Peace of mind
The sun was shining brightly, the room not warm, just the right amount of gentleness and soothing, neither too hot nor too cold. The phantom figures at the table held their breath in concentration.
"Why is that?" someone asked, their voice trembling with excitement and nervousness. "Why do some special people's experiences always differ from what's written in their fate books..."
The illusory figure smiled and said:
“They don’t want to.
"Deep down, they want to be different, they hate and don't want to, they want to defy fate... They believe they can defy fate, they are unwaveringly certain that they are different and can defy fate, and so they do."
He looked at them with gentle eyes and said, "Similarly, you also hope that someone can tell you that the fortune book is unreliable and that 'proof' exists."
"That's why people often say that cultivating immortality can change one's fate. However, those who cultivate immortality don't rely on their fate, and it's impossible to predict it accurately," He said, "because we are constantly changing."
He said, "I can honestly say that some cultivators will discover, but I don't know if they will say it, that the fate book will change with us."
The red-dressed girl who asked the question looked dazed for a moment, then gathered herself and said, "On this issue, I still feel confused and inexplicably stubborn."
Jiang Jingyuan looked at her, and his speechless feeling hinted at the girl's confusion and faint trembling uneasiness.
The girl in red asked, "The twins I've met have reached the point of life and death separation—and one of them has suddenly passed away. How should I feel about this?"
"Yes." Someone said hurriedly, "We never thought of that."
The illusory figure first looked at the girl in red and reminded her again:
“You don’t have to trust one of the two, and don’t trust me too much. Trust yourself.
"Fate is not something that will necessarily happen to those who accept or refuse it. Fate is something that is possible and unpredictable."
The red-dressed girl smiled, not refutating, but simply saying, "I'm just too conflicted. The thought that without fate's push, I wouldn't even be able to get here makes me a bit sentimental, thinking, 'If there wasn't fate from the beginning, would I have no chance of becoming an immortal?'"
“It doesn’t matter. Don’t be attached to appearances.” He simply said.
He looked at all the beings in the room and said, "There are many things to see, and they all rely on each other to see. No matter how hard you try, you can only see 70% of it. Even that 70% is already ten or even dozens of years of solitary contemplation. To go any further, you need external help."
"But, this is a question for the prime minister to think about. We are talking about another matter."
Jiang Jingyuan and other beings looked over.
"Simply put, there are conscious and unconscious, responsive and unresponsive," He said. "In fact, many, almost every living being, has their own destiny, it's just a matter of whether they've discovered it or not. Even if a living being never discovers it in their entire life, it doesn't prove anything."
Jiang Jingyuan's mind suddenly lit up when she heard this. She straightened up suddenly, her eyes gleaming.
At this moment, she felt that it was a good decision for her to stay and listen to the so-called other problems.
He smiled and asked, "How do you protect the harmony and cleanliness of your environment? Is it that you can't even look at anything that is not peaceful?"
Around the round table, figures one after another let out soft, friendly laughter.
He smiled and said, "The true and best protection is to not respond." He then carefully reminded, "When I say believe or not believe, respond or not respond, I never refer to the mind."
"When you are praised, you feel joy and anticipation; when you are criticized, you feel sorrow and anger. That is response," He said. "When you respond, you fall into the corresponding net."
He said, "Be calm and unperturbed, don't care, always be peaceful and joyful, just don't respond." Then he explained in detail, full of helplessness, "Of course, I'm not asking you to be silent or afraid to talk to others."
The figures around the table suddenly started laughing again, and the atmosphere became cheerful and relaxed.
He smiled and said, "To respond is to be influenced. If you don't want to be influenced, don't respond." He looked at the girl in red, "Twins, do they hear the same words and see the same things every day? Do they always respond and don't respond in the same way?"
He said, "We are each other's assistants and protagonists. Does your consciousness want to be the protagonist or the assistant of others?"
"Cultivating immortality isn't the only way to change your fate," He said. "Cultivating immortality isn't necessarily what you think it is for the better. What you think is for the better is just a tendency, a preference."
The girl in red suddenly understood.
"Whether conscious or unconscious, what we say isn't necessarily true," He said patiently. "So, what we cultivate is to observe carefully and for a long time, and then to stabilize ourselves. There's only the tendency, and there's no need to change anything."
The illusory rabbit suddenly said, "I know."
Jiang Jingyuan looked over. It tilted its head and knitted its brows, as if it was struggling to express its insights in words. After a moment, it stammered:
"It's like, sometimes we even think we believe something, but suddenly someone mentions something related to it, and our hearts suddenly skip a beat—that's because we don't believe it yet. And... there's a very, subtle moment... that's, uh..."
It frowned and thought hard.
After a while, it said:
"No matter our mood or state, even when we're completely defenseless... well, that's not right, we might be on guard... anyway, it's during these delicate moments when something we hear or see takes root deep within our hearts. Mortals won't notice, but we cultivators can. But even if we discover it, even if we keep our eyes on it, we can't eradicate it.
"Things that have taken root at this time are truly difficult to eliminate. Often, we can only watch them unfold. When their repercussions arrive, we immediately think of the cause that caused the effect, but in the process, we lack the power to remove it.
"It's inevitable. Even cultivators have this problem to some degree, but we try to minimize it. We can only console ourselves after its repercussions arrive, saying, 'It's just this once, it'll pass and disappear,' and stop paying attention to it."
The figures around the table listened and nodded in agreement unconsciously. Everyone who could come here had already discovered this problem.
When the cause occurs, the result is already anticipated. They cannot say that they are not afraid of the result. It is just that cultivating immortals is to resolve and eliminate the cause.
"Just like, some people's fear is actually the fear of 'the echo of fear'." The girl in red came back to her senses and said.
He said, "I know you all find this kind of situation very troublesome, but let me remind you that the influence of consciousness cannot be underestimated."
All the living beings in the room nodded seriously.
They all said:
"I knew I shouldn't have responded, but they were both so good at talking, I couldn't help but happily respond and unconsciously agreed."
"Something has always existed, floating in my mind for a long time. I cut it off, but it returned, and I cut it off again..."
"The long-term influence is so ingrained that it has given me a stress response instinct. Other things can't anger me at all, but this kind of thing, the moment I see it, before I even know what's happening, I'm already irritated and furious, and I want to drive it away."
The mysterious, illusory figure looked at the person who had spoken last and said softly, "Fear."
The girl in the coat paused and gave a wry smile. "I was terrified. I replayed the scene over and over again. I managed to remain calm in my imagination, but the next time I faced it, I was still irritated and furious."
She asked softly, "What should I do?"
“Self-pity is heavy.” He said with a gentle look, “Let the self-pity disappear, and the fear will disappear too.”
The girl nodded slowly in silence.
Jiang Jingyuan listened quietly.
At the end of the conversation, Yipenhua said, "Sadness, anger, and resentment—we all want them to disappear. But excitement, ecstasy, and excitement should also be avoided as much as possible."
All living beings agree very much.
…………
"It's like... I have to explain something that can't be explained. I feel like I'm not thinking straight."
After returning to the bamboo house, Jiang Jingyuan had this thought in his mind for a long time.
——She was quite accustomed to this state, doubting herself from time to time, as if it were a common occurrence.
"It doesn't matter what you think, it's okay to doubt." A familiar voice sounded, "As long as you don't get entangled or panic."
"Everything is for the best, rest assured."
Jiang Jingyuan stood up, looked at the sky, it seemed to be noon, and went out to look for the little fox.
"Do you want to eat?" The little fox asked numbly. Without waiting for Jiang Jingyuan's answer, he started preparing lunch. "I'll cook it now."
Jiang Jingyuan paused, followed it and talked to it about these things.
She spoke hesitantly, her face filled with hesitation and uneasiness. The little fox glanced sideways at her and said curiously, "Isn't it just something I want to talk about? Just say it, why are you so panicked?"
Jiang Jingyuan was silent for a moment, not knowing how to explain his ambiguous words. In the end, he just sighed helplessly: "I am just a mortal..."
The little fox turned his head and looked at her again. Just as he was about to say something, he paused and turned his tone to comfort her: "When your fear is gone..."
Jiang Jingyuan sighed deeply and remained silent.
Another long while passed.
She said: "I used to think I didn't have much fear and was quite numb. Now I know that it was too chaotic and my perception was blurred."
Jiang Jingyuan sighed repeatedly, "As my perception gradually became clearer, I finally got a glimpse of the giant hidden deep within my heart."
"That's good," the little fox said. "The most troublesome thing was that I couldn't dig out the fear. Now it's emerged on its own. That's great."
Jiang Jingyuan was silent.
Afternoon.
Jiang Jingyuan recalled silently in his heart, very good, very good... eh.
Fear, so much fear... pain, like countless tiny threads lingering throughout my limbs and bones, instantly controlling my entire body and making it impossible to move. I felt unbearable panic, unbearable panic...
I feel anxious and irritable. I feel so anxious that I feel anxious. I feel so anxious that I feel anxious.
An unprecedented fear.
Trapped in darkness on all sides, I strained with all my might to push the thick wall in front of me, but I couldn't push it. I couldn't push it. Why couldn't I push it? I kept walking, walking, pushing the wall out. Pushing it out would be enough. Quickly, it ached, it hurt, I couldn't push it...
Jiang Jingyuan lay flat on her back with her eyes closed. She had no idea what she looked like from the outside. She only knew that she was actually fighting against some great pain, her whole body tense and unable to move at all.
In the darkness deep in her heart, she was desperately pushing the thick wall in front of her away to drive out the fear.
She couldn't push it again and again. Was it really impossible? She even felt like she wasn't touching the wall at all!
Panic and anxious.
I couldn't calm down at all and had forgotten how to practice.
She clearly felt that only a moment passed outside, but every moment in the darkness was magnified and stretched.
However, she did not feel that she had pushed away the fear at all. The most powerful fear of all living beings in the world still stood before her!
She shed tears in front of the thick wall.
She gave up.
He let the soreness and pain wash over his limbs. For a while, the primitive fear sank deep into his heart. The soreness and pain disappeared, and Jiang Jingyuan opened his eyes blankly.
The moment the relief and fatigue washed over her, she felt the elation of being rescued.
She calmed down, but only for a moment, and a huge regret suddenly swept over her.
She felt so sorry for herself—
When all his memories came back to normal, Jiang Jingyuan was distraught.
If she had just calmed down a little, persevered a little longer, and pushed back the wall of fear, she could have...
regret.
But he was also afraid. The immense fear would make his heart tremble just thinking about it. Jiang Jingyuan didn't even dare to say that he would be able to persist in eliminating it the next time he faced it.
But she still felt so regretful. She was so close to it at that time. If she had just persisted and overcome the fear, she could...
Why didn’t you hold on...!
Jiang Jingyuan suddenly pulled the quilt beside him and covered himself tightly from head to toe.
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