Chapter 9-2 Life as a Play

From the perspective of "Eight Characters" destiny analysis, when a life is born, it is endowed with its own unique life information and trajectory. One reason why fortune-telling can be so accurate is that most people are not practitioners of spiritual cultivation (cultivators); they follow the natural course of life, including birth, aging, illness, and death. The time, place, and family into which one is born, who one's parents are, when one will meet certain people, what one will do, what illnesses one will suffer, what wealth one will gain, and ultimately, when and how one will leave this world—these are all parts of the life script that was set before birth. Without internal or external forces acting upon it, a person is merely an actor performing this script as best as they can. For example, it was predicted early on that Kobe Bryant would die in a helicopter crash, and Princess Diana was foreseen to die in a car accident—both predictions that tragically came true.

There is a story online. In 1989, a young Belgian man consulted a fortune-teller who told him that he would die in a plane crash six months later. Convinced by the prediction, the young man decided not to travel by plane. As the date approached, to avoid the air crash, he moved from the capital to the countryside, staying indoors and not venturing out, even having meals delivered. Suddenly, one day, a Soviet fighter jet flying over 900 kilometers away lost control due to a malfunction. The pilot ejected, and the aircraft, running out of fuel, crashed directly into the young man's house, instantly sending him to "heaven".

Another similar story goes like this: A young man had an early "premonition" that he would die in a plane crash during a landing. At that time, he didn't take it seriously. Several years later, he was on a flight and suddenly remembered the prophecy. He tried every possible way to convince the flight crew not to land, but the captain, finding no fault with the plane, assumed the man was mentally unstable. Astonishingly, just as the plane was about to land, the young man rushed into the cockpit, struggled with the captain, and attempted to take control of the plane. In the end, the plane crashed during landing, fulfilling the "predestined" tragedy.

Telling these two stories is not to tell readers that "life and death are predetermined". On the contrary, it is to illustrate that life is like a script; if one simply "lies flat" and passively accepts it, they cannot escape the fate that has been set. If we liken life to a game where one must "fight monsters and clear levels", from the moment a character is chosen, different attributes, resources, personality traits, and difficulty levels are assigned, allowing the player to experience the entire journey from birth to death through that character.

Confucius' famous saying, "At 15, I set my heart on learning; at 30, I stood firm; at 40, I had no doubts; at 50, I knew the mandate of heaven; at 60, my ear was attuned," refers to the process of inner growth throughout a person's life. At the age of 15, one should make a vow—set a great aspiration for what needs to be achieved in this lifetime, establishing life's goals and ideals. This aspiration becomes the source of our motivation later in life; those with truly great aspirations encounter no major obstacles in the real world. At 30, one has grasped the rules of the world's game, hence "standing firm at thirty". At 40, one should be free from doubts, having practiced the rules for 10 years and being able to master them adeptly. By the age of 50, one understands their destiny—knowing the life mission they came to this world to fulfill, understanding who they are, where they came from, and what their purpose is in this lifetime. At 60, one's ear is obedient, meaning all problems are resolved, all worldly grievances no longer matter, surpassing all cognitive barriers of three-dimensional space, and entering a state of enlightened life, truly understanding the way of nature.

It is often said among practitioners that one must "use the false to pursue the true", referring to the need to utilize the physical body (the false body) in order to achieve spiritual realization. Choosing a role is crucial but cannot be arbitrarily selected; it is connected to karmic forces and causality, related to the Inertia of Reincarnation. Some individuals are naturally academic achievers, others excel in business and profit-making, some possess great talents in music or painting, while others are eloquent and articulate, suited for roles like teaching or blogging. In truth, these roles merely manifest as a result of karmic forces. For instance, the ease with which one learns, paints, or speaks is due to the Inertia of Reincarnation, having experienced these skills over many lifetimes, akin to an experienced "old soul", they have an innate "feel" for what they were good at.

So, how significant is the role of genetic inheritance from parents? This is a matter of probability. While part of your soul and postnatal characteristics come from your ancestors—your blood type, appearance, and physique are partly inherited from your parents, creating a natural bloodline connection—your personality, talents, preferences, life lessons, and merits can be entirely different, even among siblings or twins. Families with more than one child often experience this firsthand; apart from physical resemblance, siblings can have completely different personalities, tastes, and hobbies. As the saying goes: "The dragon begets nine sons, each different."

Many people believe that the excellent genes of their offspring come from parental inheritance, which seems to confirm the theory of evolution. In reality, even when both parents are exceptional and the children are born under planned parenthood and ideal conditions, there are numerous cases where the offspring fail to continue the lineage of "outstanding genes".

I read an article previously about an Olympic champion and a gymnastics star, forming a combination of "sports celebrities", yet all three children turned out to be frail and frequently ill, performing poorly in sports. Similar examples are plentiful: parents who were academic stars at prestigious schools have children whose test scores are lower than their shoe sizes; parents with doctorates may have children whose grades are "much lower than the second last place"; a father from Tsinghua University tutors his child daily, yet the child scores only 10 points in spelling, prompting the teacher to inquire about the father's education, to which he can only admit to having completed primary school... So, if these weren't their biological children, one would hardly believe that having kids could be like opening a "blind box". Such outcomes, where Aa + Aa = aa, completely defy the "principles of evolution"!

Let's reflect on this: how many descendants of great literary figures and heroes in history have achieved fame?

The great poet Tao Yuan-ming wrote a short poem titled "Blaming My Sons", which is quite poignant. The poem expresses his frustration that despite having 5 sons, not one of them took an interest in literature. One of his sons, at the age of 16, was still extremely lazy, and another, who was already 13, couldn't even recognize the numbers 6 and 7. Such is fate!

Lu Xun's（鲁迅）grandson, Zhou Lingfei, looked exactly like his grandfather and was "destined" from childhood to be hailed as "surely skilled in writing". After graduating from high school, he joined the army and was assigned by the platoon leader of a new recruits' squad to write news reports, saying, "You're Lu Xun's grandson—if not you, then who?" Zhou was filled with apprehension, reluctantly admitting that writing was the one thing he was least skilled at.

Are there cases where the parents seemed ordinary, yet the child turned out to be exceptional? Absolutely, and there are many such examples! Throughout history, the parents of great and talented individuals were often unremarkable people. Li Hongzhang's mother was illiterate, yet all of her eight children became outstanding individuals. Chairman Mao Zedong's mother was an illiterate farmer, who had already lost two children in infancy. Mao's father did not approve of his pursuit of education and believed he should apprentice at a rice shop. Only his mother supported Mao leaving his hometown at 17 to pursue education...

These examples indirectly prove that each soul is independent, guided by its own karma, with its own tasks or missions to fulfill. Of course, reincarnation seems to be a technical skill, perhaps determined by the "God of Fate" or driven by one's own karmic forces. Usually, familial bonds are deep, or there are unresolved karmic debts, or the soul finds the parents satisfactory. Whether there are cases of "random" reincarnation, however, is something we may never know.

Therefore, life should not be compared, for human nature is inherently filled with greed, anger, and ignorance; comparison only brings more troubles. Some people envy "other people's children" and strive to become "other people's parents". When they see other children attending extra classes, they want to enroll their own children as well. When they see how much others are spending on family education, they are willing to go to extreme lengths, even selling their homes, to "pave the way" for their children. But it's important to understand that talented children are not "cultivated" through investment; they grow on their own. Truly outstanding parents often do not place much emphasis on their children's academic performance. In contrast, parents who obsess over grades and rankings may not necessarily raise children who become long-term "true scholars".

Chinese education system indeed faces the need for reform. As the world's largest producer of PhDs and master's degrees (with 1.13 million graduates in 2024), primary and secondary school students already regard studying as "life itself". Yet under the current education system, the vast majority of them will be difficult to make any significant contributions to society through major scientific research or achievements, which requires deep contemplation.

So, what should parents do? Accompany their children as they grow, give them the freedom to develop, and let flowers be flowers and grass be grass. Don't easily alter the course of your child's life! Earning a PhD or master's degree is not the ultimate goal, and neither is studying. These are just processes, much like our daily pursuit of food, clothing, warmth, happiness, and joy. To some extent, the end of life is the same for everyone, and each day is about experience and growth. What you leave behind in this world really has little to do with how many books you've read or how much money you've earned. No matter how you choose to live this life, for the vast majority, life passes in haste, "a flick of the sleeve, taking not a single cloud", and three generations later, completely forgotten by the universe, as if never having been here.