"How Can We Speak Mellowly from the Heart?” ——Also on Parallel Universe & Interstellar Effect

The election day is approaching. Although the familiar mantra is that “competent persons” should be elected, and yet I believe, everyone can see from the election process that an inarticulate candidate will have a hard time to win.  Therefore, a person must be both competent and articulate to get more opportunities in today's society.

So today we will look into how to speak better, but before that, first of all, it is to build a mindset.  Before you talk to someone, you can keep this as a self reminder : After the talk, do I want to make a friend or an enemy?

After we have a talk with someone each time, something in it changes; that is, is it love or hate we have for each other?  Humans differ from machines. Humans are characterized by likes and dislikes. No matter what topic you talk about, even just a routine exchange at work, something extra will come into being after the talk, and that is, the other party’s "feeling about you”.  That is to say, any talk never results in something “neutral”.  It either makes your relationship with others a little bit better or worse.  However, such "a little bit" will have a butterfly effect on each other's lives. For example, someone will give you a message you may need mainly because you used to impress him a little bit; someone does not PASS on a message to you simply because you used to impress him a little unfavorably.  Therefore, we might speak with a purpose in sight, but we must also remember the long-term impact. Sometimes if you are a little fierce, hasty, dominant, or even cunning, you could hit the mark quickly. However, in the long run, the side effects may get worse, and in the end, the harm will outweigh the benefits.  Thus, he who knows how to speak mellowly will “choose his words to accumulate long-term blessings”.

“Choose your words to accumulate long-term blessings,”  talking each time with this mindset will be a very important basis for learning speaking skills.

With this foundation, we can then learn how to "speak mellowly from the heart”.

Let's start with a true story, a real life example of how a person can speak more mellowly. One day my friend went for a walk in a botanical garden. There was a pond, beside which was a large open space. Although empty, it was paved with smooth black tiles. When he passed by that day, he unexpectedly saw a middle-aged man, squatting and carving on the tiles willfully as if the tiled area were his blackboard, while explaining something eloquently to his friend next to him.

Then, my friend felt angry at once and thought to himself: How could there be such a person without public morals! Next, an urge arose in him to stop the man. That being said, in such a scenario, if it had been you, what would you have said to the man when you walked over to him?

"Sir, could you please not write here? It has caused damage to public property!” My friend said if he had rushed at the man, he would have probably said so.

But my friend managed his urge. He stopped right there and thought for a couple of minutes. Then he said that he suddenly figured out something and he was not angry at all. Besides, some rhetoric that he felt much better occurred to him. So he I walked over and said peacefully, "Sir, would scratching the tiles this way leave traces? I feel the tiled area very neat and I really don't want it to be covered with scratches.”

The middle-aged man stood up, giving the area a good rub with his foot, as a result, the traces gone. He said, “Not a bit! Look!" He then swayed the pebble in his hand, indicating that the traces came from stone powder.

"Alright! That ’s okay!" My friend smiled, saying, "But next to the lawn nearby is a patch of land. I would suggest you go and write there. Otherwise, would it be fine if you use my paper and pen here? Because many kids visit here, if they mimic the way adults do, they may not be able to calibrate proper limits of their behavior and might damage the tiles. "

In the end, the man and his friend moved to the lawn for writing.

After my friend's narrative, I asked him how did he think so that his anger was released?

He said, he first felt the reason for his anger, and the reason was that he thought “how could the man ignore others and damage the tiles for his own interests?” So the first reason for his anger is “ignore others” and the second, “scratches on the tiles”. Then he started to think if one could do this, what state of consciousness was he in?

Thinking this way, he began to observe the man carefully, and then he noticed his age and clothes rustic, and his action –– drawing on the tiles eagerly and discussing with a friend about something. Suddenly my friend recalled his childhood in the country, he used to pick up a stone and write or draw on the concrete floor with other kids. When they ran out of space for writing, they would rub the ground with foot moving back and forth. So he thought that the situation the man was engaged in might be different from the "world" my friend was aware of. First of all, the man might think that it is alright to wipe off with feet after writing. Secondly, he might not notice the beauty of these tiles as my friend did. My friend thought these tiles to be beautiful because he attended a lot to his surrounding and slowly developed a beauty consciousness. In fact, many Taiwanese do not attend to the environment so he should not assume that the man saw the same beauty as he did, and deliberately did damage to it. Thirdly, my friend thought that the tiles had been scratched from the very beginning, but in fact, it was not confirmed.

When he examined himself so far, he was not angry, so he started to think about how to properly show his regards about this matter, and then he said, "Sir, could there be traces on the tiles by writing on them? I feel the tiles here pretty neat and I really don't want them to be scratched."

From my perspective, this was really a more mellow way to show concerns. He expressed his own worries and proposed a neutral question, which reserved spaces for both sides without saying that the man was deliberate, nor had he caused damage. But he also conveyed his original intention, his own concerns, and he bravely stepped in.

Think about another version. If someone pointed a finger at the man saying that he had damaged the public property with no morals. Although the man might have suddenly found how others thought of him, he could have also had grievance and humiliation, feeling that "I was not so bad”. Perhaps a quarrel might follow.

In the above example, my friend thought in the method called "Tai Chi Thinking". Once a person switches to this Tai Chi Thinking, he can speak more mellowly.

What is "Tai Chi Thinking"? That is, whenever you make judgment about something, try to imagine: if someone's judgment is exactly the opposite of mine, then what could be his reasons for its validation.

For example, when you go shopping, seeing a dress and thinking "This is ugly.” Then you ask yourself, "If someone really thinks it beautiful and likes very much in it, what could be the reason? And who might find it beautiful?” You can even deliberately correct yourself by saying, "This is so pretty!” Then you can experience different perspectives on this dress.

Conversely, if you watch a movie and think, "Awesome!" Then you can also simulate: “Would anyone think it awful?” You can imagine someone who really thinks so, then what could be his standpoint? Could someone else feel it bad, too?"

If you own a business and you meet an awkward customer, thinking, “What a pest!" Then you must try to do some thinking, “Would someone find this awkward customer OK? Suppose someone finds such a customer OK, what could be his reason?”

Another example, maybe in a conflict with someone, you feel innocent about what he is accusing of. At this time you can also think: “Perhaps it is not my original intention, but if he really feels that way, then what part of my behavior could cause him to think that way?"

This way of thinking will help you elevate your horizon to overlook your and others’ parallel universes simultaneously. We often think unconsciously that we live in the same world as others; in fact, everyone lives in his or her own "cognitive field", which I call "parallel universe”.

The Taijitu is a circle with the two poles of black and white, which are interlocking into a perfect circle in a complementary manner. The meaning of this Taijitu is profound and cannot be clearly explained in three days and nights, but for the theme of today, its meaning can be: 

If you can understand yourself and the opposing party simultaneously, your wisdom will be mellow at that moment.

So whenever you are to speak, first see if your expression sounds judgmental. If it does, first of all, put this judgment into “Tai Ji Thinking" to see any new perspective is there for your reminder. Then you will find your emotions more relaxed and peaceful, your words more thoughtful, objective, and space-creating. Your expression will be more mellow, which is not echoing what the books say, but coming from the heart.

Here is an explanation for the difference between "mellow" and “tactful”. Being "tactful" aims only to avoid conflicts, but it often produces more lies; however, being ”mellow" is a status quo based on the understanding of differences, removing the subjective mind while correcting one’s thinking and doing.

(Conclusion)
Everyone is like a parallel universe. 

Whenever you are willing to go in and understand, you will gradually know about this universe different from yours. 

When you know more about parallel universes, with higher wisdom, you can accommodate more different parallel universes with knowledge of how to speak and respond to different parallel universes. 

Thus, you will have less “ego” and more “mellowness”. 

In fact, this is the "Oneness" in spiritual practices. 

“Oneness" is that your consciousness can understand more and more people (including their parts of black and white) by putting yourself in their shoes. 

This naturally leads to “mellowness”, the "Five-Dimensional love”, which will keep drawing you all the way to higher and higher levels of “Oneness”. 

Then, this is a process of “going home” spiritually. 

In this process, you will also begin to reach "yourself of the future version”. 

You will begin to perceive the helps from your more advanced selves. 

This is because you have entered a greater oneness. 

This is no longer the third dimension, but the status quo of the fifth dimension. 

This is what the movie "Interstellar" is all about. 

However, the "interstellar effect" is still a metaphor made with the human mind, not the reality itself. 

Some are looking forward to my review of the movie “Interstellar" as I did with "Lucy" before. 

In fact, this is a tough task because what I can say is actually beyond languages. 

If it can be interpreted more appropriately, I will write a post.

The Secret of Not Losing Happiness

"The Secret of Not Losing Happiness” 

By ZHANG, Cheng

On Book Cover

It is human to pursue happiness; however, it is superhuman not to lose it!  As long as you wish, you can also learn the wonderful tips to keep happiness flowing.

Do you know that huge happiness can emerge from a human heart without external objects?  Everyone wants happiness, but what is the kind of happiness that will not disappear or turn into bitterness?  What tips on earth does a happy person have to keep his happy battery full? Open this book and you will find the key password to unlock the aforementioned secrets one by one!

Prestigious school admission, job promotion or pay raise, latest mobile phone or designer bag … … these can always make people happy for a good while. However, you always find the happy feeling gone before long.

Could it be true that to be happy is as easy as nailing Jell-O to the wall?  
How can we fill the gap in our hearts?

The cause of the problem lies in the fact that happiness is twofold, but you and I always choose the wrong one!

What exactly is the so-called "right" happiness? What should we do to escape the endless cycles of gaining and losing happiness?

ZHANG, Cheng, best-selling author on the subject of the minds and spiritual growth, will answer the most important and wisest question in life –– "How Can I Not Lose Happiness?”  A simple and wonderful way can build a happy program in your brain and let happiness come uninvited!

Preface    The Greatest Secret of Happiness

I came to enlightenment in 2002.  At that time, personality functioning came to a sudden halt.  The timeless awareness as it is has manifested that ego, life and death are illusory.  This is not a special realm, but a fact about everything as it is.  What is stated in the scripture is true as expected.

However, this was only the beginning of the journey.  The dark clouds of anxiety and fear were already so heavy that I was not used to enlightenment.  Therefore, half dreaming and half awake, I still stumbled in my life.  Fortunately, because I woke up once, when life went dark, I always suddenly woke up again, again, and again ...

　　

This progress made me understand a major life issue.  In modern English, there is only one true cause for unhappiness ––

Not．Used．To．Happiness.

This phrase cannot be overemphasized.

　　

We believe it is something that happened in the past, something that is happening now, or something that might happen in the future that makes us unhappy, so we always live in endless conflicts with ourselves or others, but it is totally not the case!

We always believe that internal thoughts make us unhappy, or external things make us unhappy, but, far from it!

　　

If you think this way, no matter what happiness you get, this happiness will always be lost again, and you must live in a cycle of repeated grueling pursuing and losing it.

I would say, and I believe that Buddha will 100% approve of my saying, "In fact, there is only one reason why we are unhappy; that is, we are very, very unaccustomed to happiness!  You think you like happiness, you want to stay in it and you do not want to come out of it at all?  Far from it.  Most of the time, in fact, you will give yourself a lot of excuses to keep yourself from being happy.”

The deeper you become enlightened and the more you understand this truth, the happier you will be!  When you find that happiness is human nature, and you do not need a reason to be happy, you will understand the wisdom––the secret of not ––losing happiness tens of millionfold more than "how to get happiness”.   

Original Text in Chinese

Reader Review

This book is out of print. Opening the book, I feel that in spite of the many mistakes I have made, I am still very blessed to read these messages! I don't think this book is written by someone on this earth. These messages must come from another dimension, some higher-dimensional space.

There is no difference in pursuit of happiness. All living entities want to be happy once they can survive. Everyone is pursuing happiness regardless of age, gender, nationality, religion, sects. However, almost all “Happy Science” is about the model of “Do This, And You’ll Be Happy". Eat this, play that, go there to see this, buy that, or practice this …… will make one happy indeed, but this happiness will definitely fade away, and it is very likely that its marginal benefits gets lower and lower.

I used to study spiritual books, which lacks no account about how to become happy, but it is the same as the above model! Only the targets are replaced with spiritual activities such as "meditation, scripture reading and chanting”. In the same way, I am not opposed to engaging in spiritual activities to be happy, but such activities are also conditional, and their benefits are decreasing day by day.

I have never read a book with so unique a perspective and practices! It is probably because I seldom read, though. Phrases like "Happiness is innate, inherent" are not rare. Most authors say one thing and do another, and their strategies still lead to external things and objects. This author does not. He uses simple words and logics that everyone can understand to spread the truth about “Happiness" and how to remain happy constantly. 

It is workable. Everything starts with oneself!

PART II, "Demystifying the Spiritual World —— 'Higher Self' Is Different from 'Higher Spirit'

……

At the end of PART I of “Demystifying the Spiritual World”, we say that in fact, the way how the Higher Spirit influences our lives is not based on "words" or "teaching of ideas", but "with your entire life". Then, what does that mean exactly?
……

When your consciousness is on the brink of touching the "consciousness of the Higher Spirit", what you will gradually see will be the spectacles as described in the following two points:

1. "God" really creates "miracles"; that is, many things happen simply to change your decision at this moment. Besides, when you see this, you can also see “Who” contributes to these phenomena and then you will know what it means by the images of the Buddhist world as painted in "Tibetan Thangka". In the "Postscript" of our book “DEVOTION", we once described its key message to be "Gratitude + Self Examination = Devotion". In the early morning when this message was given, the magnificent scene Mr. M and I came to awaken to was an example (note).

(Note) Please refer to page 178 of our book "DEVOTION".

People in general sometimes feel "presence of god" in daily life, but it is just a wonderful feeling, which will be diluted with and forgotten by other things. Some can go further to feel very touched at that moment, but they are unable to understand the heart-throbbing experience, and then this touching feeling is covered with daily trifles. What is the meaning of that heart-throbbing experience? It is that –––

There are really a lot of people, things and stuff –– the occurrence of all these causes is for my change of decision at this moment –– “specifically for me”!

Most people, even when they have a glimpse of this, feeling a subtle wonder, or even when their inexplicable touching feeling wells (heart-throbbing to tears, or warmth surges at the moment), they are still unable to live in this awareness. Because it is actually an instant leading to that “Great Oneness”, and “Great Oneness" is like a sun with millions of degrees Celsius, your ego will be incinerated on getting closer. Therefore, the ego of physical body and mind will instinctively repels that "Great Oneness”. It will retreat to hold on its many "more wants" to itself.

Therefore, the so-called "ready to leave samsara" means that when a soul is still in the physical body, he has become less repulsive to this "Great Oneness”, and he can live more and more in the “light”. This is the status of being ready. However, this is not the topic today. For those who would like to know more about this part, they can read our new release in November (2018), “The Omnipresent Treasure Sutra”.

2. The deeper you are connected to “The Higher Spirit”, the more you will understand the meaning of the following sentence.

“God” means that “there is someone else”.

In other words, "God" is all the “Other People”, who stand at different angles and form the sum total of powers that "support you being here and help you come to realization". This is exactly the uppercase "GOD" in Western culture, and it is also called "Tathagata" in Eastern culture (or by the name of “Vairocana” in Esoteric Buddhism). He is omnipresent. You cannot leave Him. He has been supporting you, watching you, putting your law of attraction to work at every turn (everywhere).

However, God “ubiquitously” helps you in two ways; one is "paradise mode” while the other, "hell mode". When you are “good” at heart; that is, if your thought in the very moment enables you to see “Gratitude + Self Examination = Devotion”, heading for Oneness, then His way of supporting you will be in "paradise mode” to open up your opportunity to learn.

On the contrary, when your inner decision violates the “Tao” of this universe; that is, if you become “more mind-dominated" and "more selfish”, then there will also be a mode of “violating the Tao” for you to activate. In other words, the same GOD will now become the so-called "Shiva" as He is called in India and appears in your life. "Shiva" is the god of destruction and the god of death; that is, He will show up as the "hell mode" to help you learn your homework.

In actual life, this is, as they say, ”To pay tutoring fees”. For someone who does not awaken to self-examining his "ego", you can observe that he will always “pay tutoring fees” all his life as if the "God of Destiny" would always pick a fight with him. Although he has been paying tutoring fees, he has been repeating that mistake. Why? Because he is asleep, he will keep doing this same homework all the time. Not until one day he really has a sincere wish, saying, "I am willing to let go of my ego and ‘see’”, will it be possible for him to find the exit out of hell. Therefore, why does the dharma emphasize so much about awakening? (Because) only when you are awake will you know why so important are the eight words “Shin Tsuen Shan Nian; Fu Chi Mian Yan”(Keep good thoughts at heart; blessings last long”.

Thus, the truth is that, in fact, no one is not connected with the Higher Spirit (Tathagata) because you are primarily in this “Oneness". However, if your divinity is asleep, you will feel disconnected, isolated and small, and crushed by impermanence at any time, to the extent where you will not believe in God even when you are told so, and instead, you would rather believe ghosts in the world.
Ghosts, however, are also from Oneness to help you awaken, the only difference is that this course is more painful and bumpy. Therefore, at the ultimate level, ghosts are also Tathagata, who uses this method only to connect with you in your darkness.

Thus, our book “‘Anything Goes’ Is A Big Awakening” starts with the passage that we call “The Supreme Mantra”,

The Power of Compassion in the universe, I thank you for this moment,
For the whole universe is helping me;
Every single thing, every single person, every single stuff,
is all another version of me,
Helping me in this moment to awaken!
　

When you really walk in love and perceive your life with love (instead of living with the self-righteous “concept of love (brain)”), you will gradually broaden your horizons with clarity and "see" the truth of the above passage. Then, this is an attainment of the level of connecting the Higher Spirit, not just that of the Higher Self.

"Walking in love”, so to speak, is a practice starting from “having others at heart”. In this way, you will discover your divinity so that you can fly from your 2D perspective of life up to a 3D bird’s eye view of life. (Please refer to Part I, “Demystifying the Spiritual World”.) If you can have your feet planted firmly on the ground for this practice of “ having others at heart”, the Higher Spirit will connect with you in “paradise mode”. Your life will manifest to you as a path to an enlightened Buddha. This manifestation is the secret meaning that “Tibetan Thangka" really has to tell.

Therefore, please do not underestimate the account of “having others at heart”. Why is there an “order”, so to speak, when you go to worship at a temple? For example, the first one to worship is “Tien Gong”(Heavenly Father), followed by other Buddhas, deities, Wang Ye, etc …… “Having others at heart" is like this, with multi-levels. The way how you slowly "surrender" yourself up through these levels is exactly the soul’s journey “home". “To surrender" means “to give yourself to heaven” sincerely in good faith, which also means “Devotion”. If you truly want to surrender yourself up through levels , you will discover your divinity.

In other words, ”nothing coming, nothing going”, as they say, is that you have really experienced in “things coming, things going" and you have "surrendered" yourself through levels before you can reach the realm of “nothing coming, nothing going”. Or, you do not have to go through everything yourself, but you can understand that "coming and going" through wisdom, and you can truly live in “nothing coming, nothing going”.

Added to that, what is “enlightenment"? "Enlightenment" is not something that makes "you soar into the sky or disappear into the earth, or that makes you super powerful”. Instead, “enlightenment” is that you have developed “loving kindness”(Tse) to this world and no longer live in “grievances”(Bay) because you have truly understood the nature of everything, and your understanding is telling you “nothing coming, nothing going”.

What is samsara, then? It is the fact that one’s divinity is “asleep”, so one must experience in person through physical reincarnation all the torments created by “coming and going” due to "selfishness" and “no understanding".

For example, everyone is living in the monetary “torments of coming and going”.
The reason is the cyclic system that intensifies “monetary flow to just a few persons” due to the selfishness in the hearts of most people –– and this is closing love. However, this is exactly what people taking birth on the level of Earth will do.

From time immemorial, people of all time are fond of talking about new technologies, but may we ask, “what do you invent AI for?” Without love, it is only cheap labor that you want. Then with the development of this AI, it is more likely that you will even choke yourself to death. Ｗhy? Even if you are a big boss and has robots in your company, will others not have them? Since you all are pursuing only profits, you still choose to live a life slashing one another. If you push yourself into a "white giant tower", like some giant monsters fighting for life, will you have a good life? When you want only cheap labor, at the same time, you are keeping money from flowing to the general public. Then, they even dare not give birth, nor buy a house. When the economy is dead, where else can you make money?

Now the wealth of this world is constantly flowing to the so-called "Top of the Pyramid”. However, reaching the “top" without the land underneath, the person who has climbed to the top comes to only a dead end. The reason why those vested interest holders now can still live as well and cruel as jackals, wolves, tigers and panthers is that, in this world, still many people are doing their duty with love. Otherwise, imagine –– no matter how much more money you’ve got, even if you can afford a private jet, as long as a maintenance worker fails to do his part, distractedly screening for stocks while working and improperly attaching screws on the plane wing, you will fall to your death.

So if it were not for some people in this world still doing things with a sense of responsibility to others, those who do monkey business would not make a haul. It is like real estate in Taiwan; now everyone dares not give birth and cannot afford things, and you simply cannot make any money no matter how you cut corners on building projects, can you? Then, why does Taiwan become what it is now? It is these moneyed companies that
have been delinquent in their duties and creating real estate hype over the past few decades.

Since time immemorial, these councillors, legislators, politicians, and companies in Taiwan have been pursuing short-term profits together. Then, the foundation of the entire pyramid –– the entire society –– changes gradually like the increasing temperatures of the water to boil frogs. To begin with, the poorest people cannot survive. Then, the inability to make a living spreads upwards and everyone falls down together in the end. This is also the ecology of "cancer cells”.

Some say, "But those tycoons can run away with money to another country!”

Such thinking implies that they do not understand the phenomenon of "parallel universe”. "Parallel universe" means, if your mind is here, your "system" will be here; that is, it is "your parallel universe” that you live in and you cannot escape from it wherever you go. The above-mentioned parallel universe, without love and for profits only, is called “hell”. This hell is not to be escaped from wherever you go. Not only is it unescapable, but also you will be bogged down layer by layer and mired into ever increasingly bitter situations. Not until someone totally loses the feeling of sweetness and lives in pains only will he think of climbing up. However, it is not so easy to turn back then. Definitely, still many others neither understand nor believe this now, and they even ferociously dig into it toward this direction. This is exactly the first lesson for the humans born in the classroom of the Earth level. Therefore, this is also not mind-boggling.

Added to that, why is it very important to “take spirituality courses”? (Because) when it comes to “taking spirituality courses”, what matters is not “spirituality”, but to understand how you will not be pulled down by others’ lessons to suffer in the “Hell Mode”. “Taking spirituality courses” is for you to understand the karma of your whole life and the whole world so that you will be able to know how to “repent and be saved” instead of being drawn to hell by the self-made law of attraction even when you go wrong. So why does Buddha say, "All living entities fear effects whereas Bodhisattva fears causes"? When you really understand causes and effects of all kinds of things, you will be “awakening”; only then will you be “taking spirituality courses”.

Is it possible for anyone living in hell to “repent and be saved”, even “to liberate in one lifetime”? It is also possible. It all depends on the fact whether you “worship” that “God” in your heart –– that is, do you have gratitude and respect to “God”? Then, what is God? To substantiate that for you, every "other person" is your “God"; every "external" is your inner “teacher". If you are not using “God", but you acquire your own wisdom through "God", you are likely to liberate in one lifetime.

Of course, if you did all kinds of evil before, though you decided to turn back, you still have to endure the karma from the past. That is the reason why some people have challenges to confront when they decide to follow virtue. However, this is not a bad thing. This is to accelerate the maturity of your past karma. As long as you stick to your determination to follow virtue, even down and out temporarily, you will have a flourishing future again. The life stories of some entrepreneurs are literally like this.

Why does the saying go, ”Fortune favors fools”? Some are willing to devote themselves or sacrifice immediate interests based on their heart, gratitude and conscience. To a shrewd man, such a person seems to be a fool, but in fact, he is the most blessed because he has the strongest link to “God". On the other hand, if a person has no link to God, but blasphemes against God, or even challenges God, then his lessons will soon be coming, and that totally out of his expectation, and that at a time when he finds it absolutely impossible.

At last, let’s get back to the "Paradise Mode” and see how you can discover your divinity from now on?

First of all, practice gratitude. When you really feel grateful for something, you “see” from this gratitude –––– For this thing to happen this way, what causal condition must there be? Then you will gradually see “miracles”. You will feel a lot of "Gods" hidden in these things. It is not by chance. Then in this sense of happiness, you think, “What virtue and what ability do I have to deserve such a blessing?" Then you “see” yourself and see what you can do next (self-examination). Usually, an idea from the heart will appear.

Whenever you have this idea of “seeing what you can do” from the heart, it is that you have grown wings and begun to fly up within the confines of your life. (Because) you have been able to look down on what is going on in your life from a higher energy, a higher consciousness, and you can sense your direction. Then, when you really do it (devotion), these "dos" accumulate bit by bit, and you will find incredible and unexpected improvement in all aspects of your life. Accordingly, you will also perceive the overall context, of which some puzzles always baffled you and were invisible to you before. Then, you will have a clear idea of how you can crack these puzzles and let them evolve in your desired direction.

The above process is the trilogy of "Gratitude", “Self-Examination", and "Devotion".

A particular warning ––
Some people can be aware of that “sense of miracle” when they can be grateful for certain conditions in life. However, if his state of mind remains at this "wondrous" feeling, and even reinforces the sense of "all-power" or superiority of his ego, then he falls “asleep” again. Thus, when you feel the presence of "God", you have to go on with self-examination, “How can I devote myself?” This way, you can really see the "next step" necessary for your life progression (soul evolution).

In other words, people can predict. If you really want to have the ability to "predict", you must enter the stage of "Devotion" and be willing to open up to “Devotion". This way in your “inner space” you can see the path you should take and the things you should do. Then, while you are doing it, if you pay attention to the surroundings, you will find that more things, corresponding the thing you are doing and the path you are taking, continuously pop up for you to see and to know that you are right to do this. That is the initiation of “prediction"! (Because) you already can see the difference between “how it evolves if you do not do it and how it evolves if you do”. When you can see this way, you will deeply understand that if you do not take the path of “Devotion”, there is no way you can find that these people and things, which are inherent, have already been around your current life and have been telling you what to do to go upwards.

These are the actual procedures of “divinity discovery" and the scenery along the way.

The last thing for you all is ––
It is impossible to explore the mysteries of the spiritual world outside the gate. It is like, if you have never been rich, then saying that you understand the rich world is only superficial. It is more of your own imagination and misunderstanding. Similarly, people have been suffering from birth, old age, disease, death, and a “dog-eat-dog” world.

If you do not turn this “five-dregs evil world" into your “omnipresent treasure”,
If you do not testify to God’s grace in person step by step in it (For Every Step A Lotus Blooms),
If you study others’ supernatural power, or try to be psychic by yourself,

then you would not only be unable to enter the "spiritual world", but also get the opposite result. You would be controlled deeper by your mind, and then you will be swallowed up and manipulated by the other more sophisticated minds of this world. You could not see what your own life lessons are. You would waste a precious life of your own for nothing.

As long as man pursues in his selfishness, the spiritual world will remain hidden and look like a “five-dregs evil world" to him. On the contrary, when you are willing to take the path of “Gratitude + Self Examination = Devotion”, you will really clearly see the law of spirituality, and how powerfully God is working a great miracle actually in all aspects of your life. Then you will see a clear fact ––––

You just did such a little bit but you have got soooo much! With this Mode of Heaven, this Great Oneness, you will feel so grateful that you can find no words for it.

Original Text in Chinese

Why Must You Live an "Opulent" Life?

Why must you live an "opulent" life? (Because) "sense of opulence" is the essential "seed money" for you to move upwards in life. “Opulence" here means an “extra margin" in your heart. A person with “an extra margin in his heart" has "space" in doing things and thus has variance and creativity in thinking and ideas. Then you will have the abilities to go upwards in life.

Whether you can live in the sense of opulence now also has something to do with your parents because fathers' habits become sons' constraints. Take those born in the 60s and 70s in Taiwan for example——their parents, born in the 30s and 40s, are used to being frugal due to war or poverty. Literally frugality is not wrong; however, extreme frugality makes a person habitually stingy to himself. "Becoming stingy to oneself" then is a huge mistake……

A person stingy to himself has indeed become someone who "only believes in money". The energy state of his heart is often "whirling tight" without any marginal space. For example, some parents, born in the 30s and 40s, the times of poverty, work very hard, and save money very hard, too.  With the saved money, they invest and buy real estate ferociously, and become the so-called rich men as expected; however, they do not live a life of "opulence". The reason——They think that money is very important, and it is all hard-earned; therefore, they do not pay much attention to the pleasure and quality of life. They have lots of attachments so that they even live like wretched skinflints.  For example, someone gives them a gift, which they will put to good use no matter what. Since there is already something available, they will begrudge to buy similar things that they really like or that are of better quality. Or there are probably a lot of problems in the house, but they would spend only small amounts of money to make scrappy changes. They are simply unwilling to have a designer fix the problems totally and upgrade the whole house. In their agenda, they always feel that they can just do it on their own. But in fact, it is all because of their begrudging attachments that they are putting up with things. So sometimes you go to a rich man’s home and you raise eyebrows at how he lives his life.  Paradoxically, he has all his children study medicine or doctoral degrees abroad.

Indeed, they seemingly have the heart to spend money on their children. However, it is not out of "Opulence", but it becomes a matter of reputation and a "point of honor" so that they lavish fantastic sums.  Their children truly feel that living under the eyes of such parents is very boring and stressful (because such parents care only about their grades and performances). Therefore, when these children grow up, they would choose to keep a distance from parents. Then the parents would wonder if their children are full-fledged and prepared to leave them, or else why do they give them a wide berth? But the parents would not examine themselves. Instead, out of insecurity, they use money to control their children. For example, they would plan to buy their child a house near them, tempting the child to live closer. Or they would hint that only the obedient child would have the biggest bankroll, etc....... Then, the child who is not greedy for parents' property would work and carve out a niche of his own. But if the child happens to be insecure, he would covet parents’ money and would not have both feet on the ground and be responsible for his own life. He would try to please the parents for "money", deviating from his right direction, and suppressing many emotions he has against his parents. So, with lots of abnormalities and distortions, he can neither develop well in life nor can he feel opulent from his heart.

Thus, in terms of figures on deposit, such parents are very rich, but they have lived all their lives for the gazes of others. They have lived in a very self-conscious and uncomfortable manner. In fact, they have remained in poverty.

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Another group of the parents born in the 20s and 30s is poor in terms of both money and mentality. These parents seldom see beyond their noses. They do not know how to use money to cultivate themselves or make investments. The money they earn is all spent on daily life before they know it. In this way, they remain unable to save the first barrel of gold. They are even chased by bills. Accordingly, they distance themselves more and more from others in terms of wealth. Finally, they fall below the poverty threshold. Being poor, they will think in a more conservative way and become the kind of people who are mean to themselves. They will be even more unwilling to pay for the "must-spend". (Poverty stifles ambition.) The result is a circle of poverty. Even in the era of economic take-off, they cannot go up with the overall trend.

The third group of the parents truly has a "margin" in the heart and lives out opulence. In addition to financial management, they also know how to use it for pleasure in life, which will nourish and "broaden" the heart. When one's heart is broadened (which means having a margin), he can accept more angles in thinking. He has the courage to invest money in the right time. He will not pinch pennies necessary for pleasure. Thus, he has an extensive contact with the society. He can see and understand the trend of the times. When these people become parents, their gaps with the next generation will be narrower. Consequently, such families will have better development later. Besides more and more opulence, the parents, in their old age, tend to have a more amicable relationship with their children. Such families will thrive.
These are the three types of family the parents born in the 30s and 40s have developed: Rich Poverty, Poor Poverty, and True Opulence. Who is from what family? We believe you can find corresponding examples in real life. After that, you might as well observe the grandpas and grandmas in those families. What are their tendencies? You will see the foregoing contexts (of cause and consequence) and their true existence.
Only those from the family of "True Opulence" are genuinely “grateful" to life. At the same time, when they see the life patterns of the Rich Poverty and the Poor Poverty families (and their distortions), they come to realize (that is, "Self-Examine") more easily. Thus, they will be clearer about what the right direction is, what should be done in their lives and for their families so that they can truly feel more joys and graces. Then they will carry on their right "devotion" to this future and enjoy more "opulence" in opulence.
So why is "opulence" super important? The reason is, when you are situated in opulence, you will see "Gratitude" and "Self-Examination" through this opulence, and then you will do the right thing and truly "devote" yourself to your future. As it would be very hard for you to make a person, wealthy but stingy to himself, see "Gratitude", so would it be very hard for you to make a person, living below the poverty line and hard-pressed every day, see "Gratitude". Only "Opulence" will enable you to get rid of the pattern in which you make decisions based on the "Insecurity" of your mind.
So how can you kick off and get into "opulence"? The key is, when you "Have" something, you start from this "Have" and develop "Gratitude" and "Self-Examination". With gratitude and self-examination, you will find that your heart begins to have a "margin". (It is not what this sentence means literally. True "comprehension" comes after you have put it into practice.) Then, you will be able "not to save money" on the "must-buy", and not to be conservative on the "must-jump-start". As a result, no matter what situation you are in, you will gradually move upwards.

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Why must life be gradually moving upwards by doing so?  The reason is, a person with a "margin" will not be caught easily with "fear of the mind" and "insecurity".  Because he is not to be caught by fear easily, he can value quality of life. The person who "values quality of life", however, will not haphazardly splurge as some people think because he will have been practicing Gratitude as we have mentioned.  Instead, his "enjoying life" includes the "Devotion" derived from "Gratitude + Self-Examination"——In other words, he is even more willing to make an extra effort for people around him and for quality of his work. Therefore, valuing the quality of life connects him with good people and things year by year; and because of his willingness to devote himself, eminences to promote him and good opportunities for him will gradually emerge.  Then he will have broader horizons and more opportunities for development. His life, of course, will keep moving upwards.

On the other hand, although someone has made a fortune, if he has been living in insecurity without any "margin" in his heart, he will lead himself and his family to sink gradually.  For example, he is a narrow-minded person with no quality of life. His children would feel suffocated and want to stay away from him, which makes him more insecure. He will even want to control his children with money.  If the children are controlled by his money, then a supply-demand of "abnormally mutual agreement" will form. At first glance, they are parents and children, but in fact their relationship is like that among "spies", in which they observe words and gestures and exploit each other.  At the same time, even these children themselves will fall into a relationship of calculation, comparison and competition. They temporarily maintain superficial harmony only because the parents are still alive. However, such karma as the so-called “Family suddenly declines” or "Wealth never survives three generations", is thus predestined.

Of course, in such a family, there will be children who live a healthier life and who can see their parents' fear and hidden agenda.  Then they will keep a distance from parents and go live their own lives. However, due to attachment to family relationship, they always buy something better for their parents, hoping that they can experience the "opulence" and change the behavioral pattern of stinginess to themselves.  However, these parents dislike things given by such children, making them feel very sad. In fact, these parents' subconscious OS (Overlapping Sound) is, "Why didn't you buy the most expensive for me? You should have given me the best.”

This is a pattern of abnormal behavior. They do not give themselves the best, but they ask their children to give them the best. The most important thing of a gift from a child is his regards, but they cannot see his “regards". They only see the fact that "we work so hard and spend money on you...", so they think they deserve the "best". But did these parents, wealthy but with poverty mindsets, actually "spend money on their children" in the past?  In fact, it was not so. They consider their children to be their investment targets and they invest in "their own expectations". Some children try to influence their parents, hoping that they can be happier. However, if there is no wisdom in it, the children will continue to erode themselves and always cry in their hearts: "I love you both so much, but why can't you see?" Then, the child will work even harder to prove his ability and his love for parents, so he will become a “child begging for love”.  He continues to suffer in constant frustrations and fall into the vortex of melancholy. 

Such parents often lead to a worsening or even broken parent-child relationship.  The Higher Spirit says that many wealthy Chinese families have such relationships.  Later, those children with healthier mindsets will live on their own. They go home at most for the three festivals to share a meal, give red envelopes and do things that are cosmetic.  So why is this? The reason is that parents of the family are used to being tight-fisted, and they have long lost "Gratitude + Self-Examination = Devotion" for what they have.

Therefore, you have no need to envy anyone born with a silver spoon in his mouth.  Those from wealthy families are not necessarily enjoying opulence.

Thus, in other words, "opulence" can also mean that you allow yourself freedom.  For example, in terms of tangible wealth, "freedom" means that you can "move" around.  Where there is an opportunity to make money, you can see it and you are willing to make a move for it; however, in terms of the intangible spirit, "freedom" means that you will not live in insecurity.  When you are genuinely grateful to whatever you "have", there will be more space in your heart to “spend when you should’”.

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Thus, "opulence" is indeed important.  If you do not feel opulence in your life, even if someone tells you about business opportunities or where to meet nice people and things, you simply cannot see them, or you regard them as a puff of wind passing the ear and you hang back.  Then you will continue to be poor, and do not know why your life remains unmoved. However, when you start to feel opulence in your heart through the practice of "Gratitude" and "Self-Examination", you will begin to erase your stereotypes (of fear and insecurity) and see that "in fact, my life can also be like this or that ......".  When you have such sayings in your heart, congratulations! This means that you have seen a "picture of opulence" that belongs to your own future, which will be your hope and motivation to move forward. At this time, if you think about what you used to think and do before, you will find that almost all is about "other people’s opinions" or "others' respect"...... which you used to live for.  But on seeing "opulence", you will clearly understand how meaningless those are.

It is at this point of time "when you finally see the path that belongs to you".  This path is the one that Buddha truly wants to reveal to the world—— the path to "Let Yourself Become a Buddha" and "Achieve Your Unique Buddha World”.

Therefore, what is the so-called "Path to Buddhahood"?  It is through "Awakening" to know how to "devote to Yourself" and achieve the “Opulence" of your own life.

"Going to heaven" in some religions is nothing else but the same idea!  Thus, if you do not know how to make yourself live an opulent life while alive, then saying that you will go to heaven after death is meaningless.  You simply cannot go in! You simply do not have that ticket.

So how do you go toward the "Buddha World"?  "Opulence" is the path. Everyone should practically find out in everyday life what they should do next in "learning opulence".  Such "practice" will not become illusory. The Higher Spirit says that when you really walk on the path of "learning opulence", the Buddhist scriptures you study will then be meaningful to you.   You will not stay in the stage of chants or word analysis by the mind. The process of "learning opulence" will bring you a lot of small but tangible experiences, which lend you credence to the Buddhist scriptures and make you understand how the experienced people (Buddhas and Bodhisattvas) have gone through.  Then you will really see many "Truths”!

If you do not approach the Buddhist scriptures this way, if you chant and regard it as an amulet, then the more you chant, the more you will become ignorant because you break away from real life and learning opulence.  The more ignorant one becomes, the more insecure one will be, which instead forms another pattern of "being controlled by religion". Such manipulation is something that Buddha does not want anyone to fall into because it is a state of "falling asleep".  Therefore, to learn from "Buddha" means to learn "Awakening", which means that you can see clearly from your real life every moment of yours and every person and thing around you, then you can get nourishment and growth from this real life. "Opulence" is the consequence of "Awakening", and it is the scenery on the Path to Bodhisattva.  It is the real key leading you and your world to a win-win situation and giving you "proper knowledge and proper view". In the "opulence" is hidden the true "prajna wisdom" that will naturally liberate you from greed, anger and ignorance.

Original Text in Chinese

Audio in Chinese