Post by lifechanyuan on Apr 7, 2024 7:25:50 GMT
Consciousness Determines Existence
Xuefeng
(Translated by Qinyou, edited by Peter)
Whether existence determines consciousness, or consciousness determines existence is a type of watershed between materialism and idealism. Human beings have not yet had a correct understanding of this issue until now.
Jumping to a conclusion rashly will definitely cause confusion in people's minds. If we divide the population into five categories: ignorant people, Laities, mortals, sages, and saints (immortals), and then according to the attitudes of people of each level towards the material world, we can clearly understand the reason why some people believe that existence determines consciousness, while others are convinced that consciousness determines existence.
1. Ignorant people live by instinct
Although they belong to the family of human beings, they are not much different from animals. They don’t know what creation and thinking are. As long as things are necessary for their survival, they will just grab them. If they are put on a deserted island, they will only die. So, for ignorant people, existence determines everything, without existence, there is nothing.
2. Laities are people who live by their desires
The central content of their lives is money, status, power, reputation, and beauty. They live for these desires all their lives. Once they don't get the above, they will suffer terribly. For laities, existence determines their consciousness, and their daily activities have a clear purpose and goal, which is how to obtain existence. Without the "seduction" of factors such as money, laities cannot live a single day.
3. Mortals live by affection
The core content of their lives is family affection, relatives and friends, colleagues and classmates, group and clan, country and nation. With these, they can live a flavorful life. Without these, they will feel alone, bored, empty, and lonely. Therefore, for mortals, it is still existence that determines consciousness, and without existence, their consciousness will collapse.
4. Sages are people who live by reason
They are people who often ask why, people who want to understand the essence behind superficial phenomena (existence). Existence is the basis of sages' consciousness, without this basis, they cannot think deeply, people such as scientists in various fields, philosophers, and thinkers all belong to the category of sages. Although existence is the basis of the consciousness of sages, they also pay more attention to the reaction of consciousness to existence. Therefore, for sages, existence and consciousness are equally important. Because they devote more time and energy to the field of consciousness than on the basis of existence, sages tend to become the best among human beings.
5. Saints (Immortals) are people who rely on spirituality.
What is perceived through sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch is not important to them, what is important is what is realized through their spiritual sense. Spiritual perception is purely an activity of consciousness, so, for immortals, it is consciousness that determines existence.
To sum it up, for ignorant people, laities, and mortals, existence determines consciousness. If you tell them, consciousness determines existence, it is like casting pearls before swine, they might even give you a back kick. For sages, existence is equivalent to consciousness, there is no question of who decides what; for immortals, consciousness determines existence, if we tell immortals that existence determines consciousness, they can only think that we are ignorant.
Then, does existence determine consciousness, or does consciousness determine existence?
First, let's take a look at all the things created by human beings. Like cars, how did cars appear on earth? There are no cars on the earth so how could cars appear out of thin air?
What! It turns out that people first imagined it in their consciousness, and then created it according to the imagination in their consciousness.
How did the first house appear on the earth? What! It is also people who first imagined a house structure, and then recreated it according to the imagined structure.
How did fashion become popular? What! It turns out that fashion designers first realized it in their brains, and then made it to guide the trend.
It can be deduced from this that all things created by human beings are firstly imagined in human consciousness, and then created according to their imaginations. If people had no imagination, that is, no thinking and no consciousness, then all the artificial objects that we use today would not have appeared. This clearly proves that consciousness determines existence. Without human consciousness, how can there be so many artificial things on the earth?
Let's look at the dwelling places of human beings and the natural environment. When we enter someone’s home, someone who loves to be clean and tidy, we see that the tables, chairs and beds are arranged in an orderly manner. Whether it is the pictures on the wall, or the flowers cultivated on the windowsill, they all give people the feeling of being natural, harmonious, beautiful, and suitable. Why is this happening? Oh! It turns out that the owner of this house has a clear spatial layout in her consciousness. The orderly existence of everything in her house was first imagined in her consciousness. If her consciousness is chaotic, she may put the coffee table on the table, and she can't think of planting a few pots of flowers and placing them on the windowsill.
Over the past ten years, I have observed the residences of many people in Zimbabwe. Generally, the living environment of Caucasians is clean, tidy, and orderly. Their lawns are always neatly mowed, their flowers are always beautiful, and plants are always verdant and green. Even their washrooms (toilets) are full of flowers, and you will never spot oil stains in their kitchens. Looking at the environment of our Chinese people, weeds are overgrown in the courtyard, dog excrement is everywhere, the washroom smells bad, cockroaches are rampant in the kitchen, and the stove is greasy...
Why is there such a big difference? Aren't they all human? It turns out that the difference lies not in existence, but in consciousness. Chinese and Caucasians have different consciousness of the environment. The quality of the living environment depends on the consciousness of the people in this environment. If there is a good consciousness, there will be a good environment. Without a good consciousness, of course it is impossible to have a good environment for existence.
My child once used his vacation to drive to Washington and New York by himself. I asked him on the phone: "What is your biggest impression after seeing New York?" Unexpectedly, he replied: "New York's Chinatown is too dirty and messy. It does not match the civilization and prosperity of New York."
Can it be that existence determines consciousness? If a Chinese has lived in China from beginning to end, it can be barely said that the existence of the dirty, disorderly, and bad surrounding environment leads to the dirty, disorderly and bad living environment of his own. But after we came to a beautiful country, where the existence is beautiful, why does the environment change when we live there? Isn't it that our consciousness determines our existence? Suppose we Chinese exchange with Japanese and Germans, we all live in Japan and Germany and let Japanese and Germans live in China. Within 50 years, China will become the most beautiful and graceful country in the world, while Japan and Germany will become two dirty, disorderly, and bad countries.
Consciousness determines existence, and what kind of consciousness is there, there will be that kind of existence. If everyone is belligerent, the world will be in a constant state war. If everyone loves peace, how could there be wars?
Consciousness determines existence. Look at Islamic mosques, Christian churches, and Buddhist temples. Their architectural styles and shapes are quite different. Why? Because the consciousness of designers and builders is different from each other.
Consciousness determines existence. When comparing the urban layouts of Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, and Beijing, the capital of China, Harare’s commercial, industrial, and residential areas are clearly separated, with a distance of at least one kilometer from each other, while Beijing’s commercial, residential, and industrial areas are almost intertwined. The reason for the formation of this pattern of existence is that the British and the Chinese have different consciousness of people, and it is the different consciousness that determines the different urban layouts.
Consciousness determines existence. When comparing the wearing and the style of dress of women during the Chinese Cultural Revolution and the wearing and style of dress of people at this present stage, from the perspective of time and space, they are definitely two different worlds. During the Cultural Revolution, women did not bother to perm, dye their hair, draw their eyebrows, and put on lipstick. Even their clothes were mostly yellow, gray, and blue. Skirts and high-heeled shoes were absolutely not allowed. About their breasts, they would find ways to press them tightly to their chest. If you budged a little, people would look at you differently, and you would be regarded as "a hot foxy spirit descending on the world", a symbol of restlessness and flirting. Look at today's women, one by one, they are more enchanting and beautiful, with all kinds of postures, styles, curvaceous beauty, sexual beauty, and temperamental beauty that is fully displayed, living out their individuality, freedom, and elegance, as if all the fairies in heaven have descended to the world. The reason why different eras have different ways of dressing is that people in different eras have different consciousness, and it is the consciousness of different eras that determines the existence of those different eras.
Consciousness determines existence. Why is the population of the United States growing more slowly than that of China and India? Why do couples with higher IQs, who are richer, and with higher education levels have fewer children, while poorer, less-educated couples have more children? Why can a man have several wives in some countries and regions, while most countries and regions can only be monogamous? Why could a couple in our previous generation have many children, but we can only have one child at this stage of China? Aren’t all these differences determined by our human consciousness?
Consciousness determines existence. Why are most of the Nobel Prize winners Americans? Why is there not a single Nobel Prize winner from mainland China? Are Americans so smart and Chinese so stupid? The main reason is that Americans and Chinese have different consciousness. If you want to eat hamburgers, you will definitely not make noodles; if you want to eat chicken, you definitely won’t put pork into the pot. The reason is so simple, do we still doubt that consciousness determines existence?
Consciousness determines existence. Why do the political systems of various countries in the world differ from each other? Why does the president of the United States only serve two terms at most, while the presidents of some countries can serve many terms? Isn't it their existence determined by the national consciousness of various countries?
How was the earth born? How did the plants and animals on earth appear? Isn't this determined by the consciousness of the Greatest Creator?
Not long ago, I read a review article, its general meaning is to criticize the only children in China at this stage for being ambitious, unrealistic, greedy for enjoyment, and for their wishful thinking. The article also mentioned a college student who had not yet graduated describing his long-term plan: "I want to go to the United States and build a villa in a small city with beautiful mountains and rivers. I want to have a green lawn, a private swimming pool, and a Mercedes-Benz." The reviewer had a good-natured ridicule on this “wishful thinking” and hoped that such college students can face reality, be down-to-earth, and not be too ambitious.
In my opinion, this commenter is an outstanding representative of the idea that existence determines consciousness. His thinking is still in the narrow field of material existence. He only sees today, values reality, and he cannot imagine that the future of mankind is determined by the consciousness of mankind, that the future of each individual is determined by the consciousness of the individual. This kind of person is a frog at the bottom of a well, and the blue sky he sees is just as big as a sieve. Relying on this kind of person to guide young people is not only misleading young people, but also cruelly oppressing people’s spirituality and ruining their bright future. Such people, on the surface, are kind, but in essence, are evil.
If I were to comment on this college student, I would say, "Son, you're absolutely right. Visualize it, your wish will come true. The better and clearer the picture you have of your future in your mind, the more likely you are to realize it. The place you can see is where you are going, the situation you can realize in your brain is where you can go, because your behavior is controlled by your consciousness. If you want to go to the east, your feet can't move toward the west. The existence of reality is constantly changing with the consciousness of human beings. If we limit our consciousness to the existence of reality, we will always be slaves to the existence of reality, and we will never be able to create a better tomorrow. Son, the universe is boundless, there are 36 dimensional spaces, so spread the wings of your imagination and fly freely, a bright future belongs to the generation that can imagine this.”
Whether existence determines consciousness, or consciousness determines existence, it is by no means a game of words or concepts, and it is by no means a question of whether to eat steamed buns or noodles. Whoever comes first directly determines the future of everyone. What kind of consciousness one has, he will have that kind of life; what kind of consciousness determines what kind of existence he will have.
Existence determines consciousness is the thinking of animals and plants that rely on instinct to survive. Consciousness determines existence is the thinking of sages and saints, and the thinking of gods and Buddhas. If existence determines consciousness, we have only one earth; if consciousness determines existence, we will have 36 dimensional spaces.
If existence determines consciousness, we can only survive in the contradictions and pains of reality forever. If consciousness determines existence, we can transcend the existence of reality and focus on future development and changes; if existence determines consciousness, we can only passively be constrained by the environment; if consciousness determines existence, we can actively open up a "sunshine avenue" in the existence of reality; if existence determines consciousness, we cannot see the brilliance of the Greatest Creator, and we can only live to die; if consciousness determines existence, we can decipher the mysteries of the time and space of the universe, extend this limited life to the infinite wonderful time and space, and then we can die to be reborn."
Existence determines consciousness is conventional thinking, consciousness determines existence is unconventional thinking, and a bright future belongs to people with unconventional thinking.
Xuefeng
(Translated by Qinyou, edited by Peter)
Whether existence determines consciousness, or consciousness determines existence is a type of watershed between materialism and idealism. Human beings have not yet had a correct understanding of this issue until now.
Jumping to a conclusion rashly will definitely cause confusion in people's minds. If we divide the population into five categories: ignorant people, Laities, mortals, sages, and saints (immortals), and then according to the attitudes of people of each level towards the material world, we can clearly understand the reason why some people believe that existence determines consciousness, while others are convinced that consciousness determines existence.
1. Ignorant people live by instinct
Although they belong to the family of human beings, they are not much different from animals. They don’t know what creation and thinking are. As long as things are necessary for their survival, they will just grab them. If they are put on a deserted island, they will only die. So, for ignorant people, existence determines everything, without existence, there is nothing.
2. Laities are people who live by their desires
The central content of their lives is money, status, power, reputation, and beauty. They live for these desires all their lives. Once they don't get the above, they will suffer terribly. For laities, existence determines their consciousness, and their daily activities have a clear purpose and goal, which is how to obtain existence. Without the "seduction" of factors such as money, laities cannot live a single day.
3. Mortals live by affection
The core content of their lives is family affection, relatives and friends, colleagues and classmates, group and clan, country and nation. With these, they can live a flavorful life. Without these, they will feel alone, bored, empty, and lonely. Therefore, for mortals, it is still existence that determines consciousness, and without existence, their consciousness will collapse.
4. Sages are people who live by reason
They are people who often ask why, people who want to understand the essence behind superficial phenomena (existence). Existence is the basis of sages' consciousness, without this basis, they cannot think deeply, people such as scientists in various fields, philosophers, and thinkers all belong to the category of sages. Although existence is the basis of the consciousness of sages, they also pay more attention to the reaction of consciousness to existence. Therefore, for sages, existence and consciousness are equally important. Because they devote more time and energy to the field of consciousness than on the basis of existence, sages tend to become the best among human beings.
5. Saints (Immortals) are people who rely on spirituality.
What is perceived through sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch is not important to them, what is important is what is realized through their spiritual sense. Spiritual perception is purely an activity of consciousness, so, for immortals, it is consciousness that determines existence.
To sum it up, for ignorant people, laities, and mortals, existence determines consciousness. If you tell them, consciousness determines existence, it is like casting pearls before swine, they might even give you a back kick. For sages, existence is equivalent to consciousness, there is no question of who decides what; for immortals, consciousness determines existence, if we tell immortals that existence determines consciousness, they can only think that we are ignorant.
Then, does existence determine consciousness, or does consciousness determine existence?
First, let's take a look at all the things created by human beings. Like cars, how did cars appear on earth? There are no cars on the earth so how could cars appear out of thin air?
What! It turns out that people first imagined it in their consciousness, and then created it according to the imagination in their consciousness.
How did the first house appear on the earth? What! It is also people who first imagined a house structure, and then recreated it according to the imagined structure.
How did fashion become popular? What! It turns out that fashion designers first realized it in their brains, and then made it to guide the trend.
It can be deduced from this that all things created by human beings are firstly imagined in human consciousness, and then created according to their imaginations. If people had no imagination, that is, no thinking and no consciousness, then all the artificial objects that we use today would not have appeared. This clearly proves that consciousness determines existence. Without human consciousness, how can there be so many artificial things on the earth?
Let's look at the dwelling places of human beings and the natural environment. When we enter someone’s home, someone who loves to be clean and tidy, we see that the tables, chairs and beds are arranged in an orderly manner. Whether it is the pictures on the wall, or the flowers cultivated on the windowsill, they all give people the feeling of being natural, harmonious, beautiful, and suitable. Why is this happening? Oh! It turns out that the owner of this house has a clear spatial layout in her consciousness. The orderly existence of everything in her house was first imagined in her consciousness. If her consciousness is chaotic, she may put the coffee table on the table, and she can't think of planting a few pots of flowers and placing them on the windowsill.
Over the past ten years, I have observed the residences of many people in Zimbabwe. Generally, the living environment of Caucasians is clean, tidy, and orderly. Their lawns are always neatly mowed, their flowers are always beautiful, and plants are always verdant and green. Even their washrooms (toilets) are full of flowers, and you will never spot oil stains in their kitchens. Looking at the environment of our Chinese people, weeds are overgrown in the courtyard, dog excrement is everywhere, the washroom smells bad, cockroaches are rampant in the kitchen, and the stove is greasy...
Why is there such a big difference? Aren't they all human? It turns out that the difference lies not in existence, but in consciousness. Chinese and Caucasians have different consciousness of the environment. The quality of the living environment depends on the consciousness of the people in this environment. If there is a good consciousness, there will be a good environment. Without a good consciousness, of course it is impossible to have a good environment for existence.
My child once used his vacation to drive to Washington and New York by himself. I asked him on the phone: "What is your biggest impression after seeing New York?" Unexpectedly, he replied: "New York's Chinatown is too dirty and messy. It does not match the civilization and prosperity of New York."
Can it be that existence determines consciousness? If a Chinese has lived in China from beginning to end, it can be barely said that the existence of the dirty, disorderly, and bad surrounding environment leads to the dirty, disorderly and bad living environment of his own. But after we came to a beautiful country, where the existence is beautiful, why does the environment change when we live there? Isn't it that our consciousness determines our existence? Suppose we Chinese exchange with Japanese and Germans, we all live in Japan and Germany and let Japanese and Germans live in China. Within 50 years, China will become the most beautiful and graceful country in the world, while Japan and Germany will become two dirty, disorderly, and bad countries.
Consciousness determines existence, and what kind of consciousness is there, there will be that kind of existence. If everyone is belligerent, the world will be in a constant state war. If everyone loves peace, how could there be wars?
Consciousness determines existence. Look at Islamic mosques, Christian churches, and Buddhist temples. Their architectural styles and shapes are quite different. Why? Because the consciousness of designers and builders is different from each other.
Consciousness determines existence. When comparing the urban layouts of Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, and Beijing, the capital of China, Harare’s commercial, industrial, and residential areas are clearly separated, with a distance of at least one kilometer from each other, while Beijing’s commercial, residential, and industrial areas are almost intertwined. The reason for the formation of this pattern of existence is that the British and the Chinese have different consciousness of people, and it is the different consciousness that determines the different urban layouts.
Consciousness determines existence. When comparing the wearing and the style of dress of women during the Chinese Cultural Revolution and the wearing and style of dress of people at this present stage, from the perspective of time and space, they are definitely two different worlds. During the Cultural Revolution, women did not bother to perm, dye their hair, draw their eyebrows, and put on lipstick. Even their clothes were mostly yellow, gray, and blue. Skirts and high-heeled shoes were absolutely not allowed. About their breasts, they would find ways to press them tightly to their chest. If you budged a little, people would look at you differently, and you would be regarded as "a hot foxy spirit descending on the world", a symbol of restlessness and flirting. Look at today's women, one by one, they are more enchanting and beautiful, with all kinds of postures, styles, curvaceous beauty, sexual beauty, and temperamental beauty that is fully displayed, living out their individuality, freedom, and elegance, as if all the fairies in heaven have descended to the world. The reason why different eras have different ways of dressing is that people in different eras have different consciousness, and it is the consciousness of different eras that determines the existence of those different eras.
Consciousness determines existence. Why is the population of the United States growing more slowly than that of China and India? Why do couples with higher IQs, who are richer, and with higher education levels have fewer children, while poorer, less-educated couples have more children? Why can a man have several wives in some countries and regions, while most countries and regions can only be monogamous? Why could a couple in our previous generation have many children, but we can only have one child at this stage of China? Aren’t all these differences determined by our human consciousness?
Consciousness determines existence. Why are most of the Nobel Prize winners Americans? Why is there not a single Nobel Prize winner from mainland China? Are Americans so smart and Chinese so stupid? The main reason is that Americans and Chinese have different consciousness. If you want to eat hamburgers, you will definitely not make noodles; if you want to eat chicken, you definitely won’t put pork into the pot. The reason is so simple, do we still doubt that consciousness determines existence?
Consciousness determines existence. Why do the political systems of various countries in the world differ from each other? Why does the president of the United States only serve two terms at most, while the presidents of some countries can serve many terms? Isn't it their existence determined by the national consciousness of various countries?
How was the earth born? How did the plants and animals on earth appear? Isn't this determined by the consciousness of the Greatest Creator?
Not long ago, I read a review article, its general meaning is to criticize the only children in China at this stage for being ambitious, unrealistic, greedy for enjoyment, and for their wishful thinking. The article also mentioned a college student who had not yet graduated describing his long-term plan: "I want to go to the United States and build a villa in a small city with beautiful mountains and rivers. I want to have a green lawn, a private swimming pool, and a Mercedes-Benz." The reviewer had a good-natured ridicule on this “wishful thinking” and hoped that such college students can face reality, be down-to-earth, and not be too ambitious.
In my opinion, this commenter is an outstanding representative of the idea that existence determines consciousness. His thinking is still in the narrow field of material existence. He only sees today, values reality, and he cannot imagine that the future of mankind is determined by the consciousness of mankind, that the future of each individual is determined by the consciousness of the individual. This kind of person is a frog at the bottom of a well, and the blue sky he sees is just as big as a sieve. Relying on this kind of person to guide young people is not only misleading young people, but also cruelly oppressing people’s spirituality and ruining their bright future. Such people, on the surface, are kind, but in essence, are evil.
If I were to comment on this college student, I would say, "Son, you're absolutely right. Visualize it, your wish will come true. The better and clearer the picture you have of your future in your mind, the more likely you are to realize it. The place you can see is where you are going, the situation you can realize in your brain is where you can go, because your behavior is controlled by your consciousness. If you want to go to the east, your feet can't move toward the west. The existence of reality is constantly changing with the consciousness of human beings. If we limit our consciousness to the existence of reality, we will always be slaves to the existence of reality, and we will never be able to create a better tomorrow. Son, the universe is boundless, there are 36 dimensional spaces, so spread the wings of your imagination and fly freely, a bright future belongs to the generation that can imagine this.”
Whether existence determines consciousness, or consciousness determines existence, it is by no means a game of words or concepts, and it is by no means a question of whether to eat steamed buns or noodles. Whoever comes first directly determines the future of everyone. What kind of consciousness one has, he will have that kind of life; what kind of consciousness determines what kind of existence he will have.
Existence determines consciousness is the thinking of animals and plants that rely on instinct to survive. Consciousness determines existence is the thinking of sages and saints, and the thinking of gods and Buddhas. If existence determines consciousness, we have only one earth; if consciousness determines existence, we will have 36 dimensional spaces.
If existence determines consciousness, we can only survive in the contradictions and pains of reality forever. If consciousness determines existence, we can transcend the existence of reality and focus on future development and changes; if existence determines consciousness, we can only passively be constrained by the environment; if consciousness determines existence, we can actively open up a "sunshine avenue" in the existence of reality; if existence determines consciousness, we cannot see the brilliance of the Greatest Creator, and we can only live to die; if consciousness determines existence, we can decipher the mysteries of the time and space of the universe, extend this limited life to the infinite wonderful time and space, and then we can die to be reborn."
Existence determines consciousness is conventional thinking, consciousness determines existence is unconventional thinking, and a bright future belongs to people with unconventional thinking.
