(Clearwisdom.net) In classical Chinese lore, Sun Wukong, also known as the Monkey King, was cultivating under a Taoist master. Since he had very high enlightenment quality, he went to beg his master to teach him the Dao and supernormal abilities. However, his fellow cultivators had no such predestined relationship to learn such teachings. Encouraged by his fellow cultivators, the Monkey King showed off what he had learned from his master. Because he did this, he was banished by his master. Although this is just a tiny part of Monkey King's story, it reveals some insights.
People may wonder, "Why couldn't the Monkey King show off his abilities a little?" To his master, showing off was not a small matter. It represented a cultivation issue that was very important but hard for people to understand. Behind supernormal abilities lie supernormal principles that bind them, and the supernormal principles were beyond human knowledge.
It is quite normal to have different requirements for different things. For example, the requirements for university students are higher than those of primary school students. A few years ago, some people who did not believe in the existence of supernormal powers offered a reward to people who would perform "supernormal powers" in public. They believed that if no one was able to do this, it would prove that there was no such thing as supernormal powers. This assumes the Chinese idiom, "When a high reward is offered, brave fellows are bound to come forward." This idiom however does not apply in this case.
We should not forget that the term "supernormal powers" arises from supernormal phenomena, and behind the supernormal phenomena there are supernormal principles. Money will not motivate those with supernormal powers to come forward, because "supernormal powers" that may reveal the mysteries of the universe and life are not meant to be shown in public, nor can they be used to show off or for profit. If someone came forward, he or she would be punished, just like the Monkey King.
In the Song Dynasty, there was a story called "Cow Dung and Buddha." One day, the great poet and calligrapher of the Song Dynasty, Su Shi (also known as Su Dongpo), went to Jinshan Temple to sit in deep meditation in the company of Buddhist monk Foyin. He felt very good both physically and mentally. He asked, "Buddhist monk, what do you think of my sitting posture?" Foyin answered, "Very solemn, just like a Buddha!" Su Shi was very happy to hear that. Then the Buddhist monk asked Su Shi, "Scholar, what do you think of my sitting posture?" Su Shi, who wanted to make fun of the monk, said, "Like a pile of cow dung!" Su Shi thought that he had outwitted Foyin. When word about this spread to his sister Su Xiaomei, who was very talented, she said sternly, "Brother, you lost. Foyin's heart is like a Buddha, so he saw you as a Buddha. Your heart is like cow dung, so you saw him as a pile of cow dung!"
This story illustrates a principle. A person's understanding of the world is related to his own mindset and realm. The saying "Gauging the heart of a gentleman with a petty person's judgment" refers to something very similar. With different moral qualities and different levels of realm, people have different understandings of things. It is very difficult for an ordinary person to pass judgment on how one with supernormal powers would behave.
True Chinese culture pays a lot of attention to "enlightenment," improving one's moral standards, taking fame and gain lightly, as well as forsaking all kinds of desires. The better one's cultivation status, the calmer one would become when objectively looking at things. Chinese culture is broad and profound, but the Chinese people who have been brainwashed by the Chinese Communist Party's atheism have very strong attachments to fame and gain, as well as all sorts of desires. They often look at the Chinese civilization from the perspective of material gain, so their understanding of Chinese traditional culture is becoming increasingly shallow. They describe all the phenomena that they do not understand as "superstition." They had no way to truly understand Chinese culture, nor the cultivation practice of Falun Gong.
There were many cultivators of the Buddha or Daoist Schools, and cultivation is supernormal, so the cultivators did not get involved in any power struggles. Take Zhang Guolao, one of the eight deities, for example. According to "Tang Shu" (The Book of Tang Dynasty), Zhang Guolao was a real person. Emperor Tang Gaozong repeatedly invited him to come to see him, but was always politely refused. Empress Wu Zetian also tried to get him to come to see her. To escape this obligation, Zhang Guolao pretended to be dead in front of the temple. All genuine practitioners would shy away from power in the ordinary sense like this.
Falun Gong requires that its practitioners strictly abide by the principles of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance." It also requires practitioners not to do anything bad and not get involved in power and political struggles. Many people have a very strong attachment to material gain, and they look at Falun Gong with a mentality fanned up by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) hate propaganda. Much like Su Dongpo, they mistakenly think that Falun Gong is "involved in politics."
