Finally, Madam Jiang was persuaded by Song Yuwei. After the two went inside, they found that Jiang Cheng had woken up at some point and was listening to Jiang Mo tell a story.
"I said, brother, if you don't understand this story, you can ask me. After all, what is the specific framework of this story? Someone mentioned it a long time ago, so I have some recollection of it, but I can't say I remember it completely clearly, and there might be some parts that are wrong."
But you won't mind, since I can tell you stories and you'll be happy. This story is about an old monk who spent his whole life as a monk. But one day, he realized that he hadn't gained anything from being a monk all his life.
Every day he wondered if all the effort he had put in over the past few decades had been in vain. His academic research had given him the ability to answer many questions, but he never felt that this was his achievement.
Because that day, he felt he wanted to know what he had gained from a lifetime of busy work and being a monk his whole life. So he pondered this every day.
Every day he hoped he could understand this principle, but he thought about it for a very long time and still couldn't understand why he would become a monk.
It seems that from the very beginning, he simply became a monk without considering whether he wanted to or not. He recalled that he grew up in a temple. His parents were nowhere to be found, and from the time he had memories, his mind was filled with the temple and his childhood with his master.
Every day I do many things: chop firewood in the mountains, boil water and cook, and read scriptures.
But after repeating these things for a lifetime, he now felt old and weak. So he really couldn't do anything anymore. Only then did he realize that the things he had done in the past might have seemed very interesting at the time.
But once it was over, he realized it wasn't what he had imagined. He thought about it for a long time but still couldn't figure it out, when one day he suddenly met someone.
Everyone goes up the mountain to chop wood every day, and it seems he's known this person for a long time. This person seems to have been chopping wood, making firewood, and cooking for a long time; he seems to be in business. The monk was very curious: "What do you think your daily activities bring you?"
"Do you think the result of doing this will be what you want?" the person suddenly asked. "Why would you want anything? Just do it this way!" This sentence made the old monk realize that he didn't need to think about what he wanted, but just do it.
The experiences you gain during the process are unique. They may pass by in a fleeting moment, but you still gain something from them.
From then on, the old man stopped thinking about what he had learned or gained from doing anything; he simply did it. Why? If that's the case, he'll be happy.
Jiang Cheng seemed to be deep in thought. "There was nothing to gain in the first place. Can you say that what you gain now will not be lost in the future? Or rather, at the moment you die, you will lose everything, even this so-called self you have now."
Because anything that can be seen cannot be left behind, while only the unseen can truly remain. Just like a person's thoughts, you can't say that such things can be seen, because you can't see what someone is thinking in their mind; you can only see it through what they say.
Judging from someone's actions, you can never keep what you want, what you consider precious, and there's no need to crave those things.
If you keep your mind in the present moment, you are invincible. You will not be able to fantasize about unrealistic things. In that case, you will not have desires, thoughts, or anything messy. If you do it this way, what you do will be truly pure.
They won't have any opinions based on what you do or how you do it. All of humanity's suffering actually stems from unfulfilled desires. Because if you want something, you might not get it, and if you don't get it, you'll wonder why things are so bad.
Why is everything so chaotic? You can never obtain what you seem to need, because what you need is likely just something to satisfy your desires. Such things are always elusive, invisible and intangible.
So why do you try to grasp all these things and do this? It's because your desires tell you that if you do it, you will get this or that, but if your desires tell you that if you do it, you won't get anything.
Even if you eventually get what you want, you might not be happy. Desire might bring you temporary pleasure, but it can't bring you lasting happiness. You will only feel happy when you get what you truly want.
What is it that you truly want? Many people can't actually say, because these things are incredibly complex. And as ordinary people, we can't truly grasp them. The only way to get what you want is to take action, not overthink it.
Did you know that if you get something you want, you can have a short-lived happiness? But if it's just a desire, that happiness will pass quickly.
If you can obtain this kind of happiness, it cannot last long, because if you can get what you desire, it is only a temporary object and cannot bring you lasting benefits. If it is an object, you will lose it sooner or later.
You can't say you'll keep this item for six months, because nothing will remain completely unchanged for six months; you might not even see any trace of it anymore.
Therefore, we don't need to pursue such things, because they will never bring you the life you want. But once you get what you want, you'll want what you don't have now, and you'll still persist in thinking about those messy things.
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