Discussion on Orthodox Taoist Faith No. 10: To Cultivate Immortals, First Be a Human; To Be a Human, First Understand Righteousness

　　To cultivate immortals, one must first be a human. While a person may disregard fame and wealth, they must uphold justice.

　　Professor A wrote a paper but had not yet published it.
　　Professor B saw it, quickly plagiarized it, and published it, publicly claiming it as his own.
　　Professor A questioned Professor B, who replied that science belongs to humanity, not to any single individual. The laws of the sages are uniform; one should not generate discriminatory thoughts. Does it matter whether you publish it or I publish it?
　　Subsequently, Professor B secured funding, received money, obtained a professional title, and continued living happily.　
　　Professor A became disheartened and stopped writing papers.

　　Author A wrote a novel, but at the time, few people read it.
　　Author B saw the novel was good, so he copied it, posted it online, and claimed it as his own, resulting in great popularity.
　　Author A questioned Author B, who said the novel is for the public, not for any single individual. One should not harbor discriminatory thoughts. Does it matter whether you publish it or I publish it?
　　Author B then made a lot of money from the novel and lived very comfortably.
　　Author A became disheartened and stopped writing.

　　Mr. A invented something but had not yet applied for a patent.
　　Mr. B saw the invention was good, so he quickly stole the technology, promptly applied for the patent, and claimed it as his own.
　　Mr. A questioned Mr. B, who said, this already exists in the world between heaven and earth, having nothing to do with your invention.
　　Mr. B then sold the patent, gained a good reputation, and kept the money for himself.
　　Mr. A became disheartened and stopped inventing.

　　These phenomena are quite common in reality. In religion, the most common is Buddhism appropriating various Taoist methods and techniques, and then widely proclaiming them as Buddhist teachings. Whenever Taoists raise objections, they are told, "You have too much discriminatory thinking," "The laws of the sages are uniform," or "All teachings are Buddhist teachings," allowing them to continue plagiarizing and disguising them with a new face.

　　Many Taoist methods have been infringed upon, including in modern times. A typical example is the '72 Incense Patterns of the God of Wealth,' which some Buddhists changed to the '72 Incense Patterns of Guanyin Bodhisattva.' Another obvious example is the divination art of Qimen Dunjia; currently, some people have created a 'Buddhist Qimen.' There are many such cases.

　　For many modern Taoist priests, there is an awkward problem to face: If they argue, they will be accused of asking why cultivators should argue. Where does this problem lie? Where do these obvious moral kidnapping issues lie?

　　What is called 'Righteousness' is fairness and justice!

　　Whoever creates can reap the rewards; this is fairness. Upholding fairness against infringement is justice. If justice is violated, it is evil.

　　Cultivators may not pursue fame and wealth, but they must uphold justice!

　　Therefore, it is obvious that in the above cases, A, by deliberately ignoring fairness and justice, was actually acting evilly. However, ordinary people did not notice the issues of fairness and justice, thus establishing robbery upon moral kidnapping.

　　Even on the free internet, there are fair moral norms: the rule that reprints must cite the source. Websites that adhere to this rule tend to prosper more and more, while those that do not adhere to it, even if temporarily popular, will soon go out of business. Why is this?

　　The ancients said, There is a vast righteous energy between heaven and earth; this righteous energy is invulnerable to all evils.

　　Taoism reveres the Tiangang (Heavenly Dipper). How is the character 'Gang' (罡) written? It has '罒' (net) on top and '正' (righteous/upright) on the bottom. The '罒' on top is a simplified pictographic form of the character '网' (net). As the saying goes, 'The net of heaven is vast, sparse but不漏 (不漏 means不漏/不漏漏网, i.e., nothing escapes); this is all because of righteousness.'

　　The Yin Fu Jing states: "Establish the way of heaven to stabilize humanity," and "Heaven's utmost selfishness, its use is utmost public." To conform to the Way of Heaven, one must establish the Way of Heaven. To comprehend utmost publicness, one must understand Heaven's utmost selfishness.

　　'Zheng' (Righteous) refers to "The sky tilts northwest, the earth is not full in the southeast." The Way of Heaven has defects, so humans fill them. There is good and evil in the world, so humans establish systems to reward good and punish evil.

　　Therefore, to cultivate the Dao, one must first understand righteousness. Those who practice the Dao must necessarily have a chest full of righteous energy, to rectify themselves first, and only then can they rectify all things. Only in this way can one truly achieve "Knowing that all things are prepared within me, and distinguishing the Three Powers to establish the root."

　　Some cultivators misunderstood the concepts transmitted by ancient sages. As a result, during their cultivation process, the problems they encountered increased, making themselves worse. In contrast, other cultivators with righteous thoughts and righteous conduct found their fortune and luck improving.

　　What did the sages transmit regarding "Non-contention"? "Benefiting all things without contention." "Benefiting all things" means benefiting all things, not being controlled by all things.

　　To be able to "benefit all things," one must first be strong enough. If one is not strong enough, how can one benefit all things?

　　Water can benefit all things because 78% of the Earth's surface is water.

　　Therefore, the sages taught: When successful, benefit the whole world; when unsuccessful, cultivate oneself alone. Cultivators should first refine themselves and strengthen themselves, so that they have the resources to save the world and deliver people. This is the orthodox principle of cultivation in the Chinese Xuanmen (Mystical Gate).

　　The above is the principle of cultivation. For those who are not cultivators, seeking gods is rarely absent. For believers, one cannot force them to comprehend profound and mysterious truths. So, what are the considerations?

　　Those who seek gods with righteous thoughts can resonate with the deities; only then will their seeking be effective.

　　The ancients believed that seeking gods with an unrighteous heart is of no benefit.

　　To invoke righteous deities, the heart must be righteous. Does a heart that does not generate evil mean it is righteous? Wrong!

　　The heart must generate righteousness to be righteous. A heart that does not generate evil can only be said to be neither righteous nor evil; it cannot invoke righteous deities .

　　How does one generate righteousness? Having a heart of fairness and justice allows one to have righteous energy within.

　　Many people, when life is unsatisfactory, seek religious comfort. Initially, seeking gods sometimes yields results. However, after hearing too much nonsense from pseudo-cultivators for a long time, they believe that so-called right and wrong are uniform, that one should not have discriminatory views, and that one should not speak of others' faults. Thus, they begin to become ignorant. After becoming ignorant, they generate evil views. Subsequently, not only does their life not improve, but their fortune and luck decline further. As a result, what was originally intended as mere religious comfort ends up ruining their marriage, family, and financial luck.

　　People in this world do not investigate the profound meanings of the sages but arbitrarily fragment and decompose their words. If this only harms oneself, it is one thing; but harming sentient beings is the true evil.

　　Although Europe and America do not have the Great Dao's teachings, they once pursued fairness and justice. Thus, this energy resonated, greatly elevating their fortune and luck, leading to economic development. Later, during the two World Wars, they blindly plundered everywhere. Consequently, after the Second World War, their economy began to decline. Japan's unrighteous invasion of China during the Second World War led to the disaster of the atomic bombs. However, this disaster was severe, and afterward, its fortune gradually rose. But in recent years, it has increasingly denied the crimes of the Second World War and denied fair judgments, so its economy has begun to slide again.

　　Those who uphold fairness will inevitably have strong fortune and luck, while those who do not will have weak fortune and luck. Even excluding metaphysical explanations, this can be explained because humans inherently desire fairness and justice. Fair behavior always gains approval in the human subconscious, so it becomes more and more prosperous.

　　I believe in this point and strictly execute it.

　　Many people are envious of our sect's Taobao store (Taoist Yin Fu Sect). I am aware of this. Most people in such cases think, "Why are our sect's talismans so expensive, and why do so many people buy them?" There are those who curse, those who are angry, those who are curious, those who are puzzled, those who imitate, and those who plagiarize.　

　　But no matter what, whether it is cursing or slander, the old clients of our sect's store basically return. Even if some occasionally seek help elsewhere for a while, they will return after wandering around and still connect with our sect.

　　The highest is when the people do not know that the ruler exists; next is when they are close and praise him; next is when they fear him; next is when they insult him.

　　When faith is insufficient, there is disbelief.

　　Leisurely and precious is his word.

　　When the work is done and the affair is accomplished, the people all say, 'We are natural.'

　　Besides the strength of Taoist methods, have you noticed the 'Must-Read for Clients' of our sect? Every item in our sect's 'Must-Read for Clients' is written after deep consideration. All the clauses merely uphold one principle: fairness.

　　If you truly use our sect's talismans and encounter a situation where they are ineffective, it is no problem. You can get a refund for the ineffective ones. As long as you come to request a refund, I will definitely refund it. This has never been violated over the years. Even if someone wants to commission some rituals, pays thousands or tens of thousands, and then suddenly regrets and wants a refund after the money has been transferred, I will refund it without hesitation. If you go to another shop and try to get a refund?

　　Why do this? It is all because of fairness and justice.

　　So, why do I require timely evaluation upon receipt in the 'Must-Read for Clients'? I consider this a very fair clause. If you cannot accept it, then do not come to our sect. Our sect provides fair clauses, but the principle of fairness is bilateral. If it is fair only to you but unfair to me, I regret that I cannot accept it.

　　Generally, fairness in the world involves both sides making concessions to reach an agreement. Our sect accepts this. If one cannot agree, then no agreement can be reached, and there is naturally no room for further discussion.

　　Similarly, our sect's store never conducts discount sales or similar events. This is also due to fairness. If one believer pays significantly less for a Dharma object than another without reason, the one who paid more will inevitably harbor resentment. How can there be fairness in that?

　　People in the world have different values and worldviews. My philosophy does not seek everyone's agreement, and certainly, there are those who do not agree. However, if you do not agree, that is your matter; what does it have to do with me?

　　Whether they agree or not, the old clients of our sect still come, and new clients are increasing. As fortune and luck continue to rise, the scope of demand will become broader and broader.

　　The root cause of all this is simply providing a fair environment. The reason for a fair environment is nothing more than the righteous energy between heaven and earth.

　　I am not specifically engaged in business, so I do not care about so-called peers, nor do I have a pathological savior complex, nor do I worry about so-called competition. Because there are many, many people in this world who need Taoism. If Taoism becomes more prosperous with believers upholding righteous thoughts, I will only be happy.

　　Therefore, if you are truly a Xuanmen inheritor and wish to establish connections online, you can first clarify the principle of fairness, delete all those inexplicably fabricated talismans, remove the habits of street charlatans, keep only what is truly useful, and then practice the way of fairness. I believe you will also do better and better.