1 00:00:00,420 --> 00:00:01,959 What Pu Songling wrote about isn't ghosts 2 00:00:02,060 --> 00:00:03,798 it's the greed hatred and delusion in your heart 3 00:00:04,299 --> 00:00:06,878 You think Liaozhai is just a collection of ghost stories 4 00:00:07,259 --> 00:00:08,638 nearly five hundred tales 5 00:00:08,740 --> 00:00:12,718 foxes demons ghosts and immortals take turns on stage 6 00:00:12,779 --> 00:00:14,159 written to send chills down your spine 7 00:00:14,380 --> 00:00:16,318 but if you open it again today 8 00:00:16,420 --> 00:00:18,399 and read it once more through a Buddhist lens 9 00:00:18,460 --> 00:00:21,239 you'll discover something that makes your back go cold 10 00:00:21,756 --> 00:00:23,855 what Pu Songling wrote about was never ghosts at all 11 00:00:23,995 --> 00:00:25,715 those that crawl out from the cracks in the wall 12 00:00:25,916 --> 00:00:29,114 that rise up from the grave that shift beneath a painted skin 13 00:00:29,116 --> 00:00:30,814 not a single one exists on its own 14 00:00:30,835 --> 00:00:32,614 they are all seeds coming into manifestation 15 00:00:32,675 --> 00:00:36,374 they are the greed hatred and delusion long buried in the protagonist's heart 16 00:00:36,516 --> 00:00:37,915 and when the conditions come together 17 00:00:37,916 --> 00:00:40,014 they surface from the depths of consciousness 18 00:00:40,075 --> 00:00:42,215 and turn around to devour the person himself 19 00:00:42,446 --> 00:00:42,764 Hello 20 00:00:43,166 --> 00:00:43,645 everyone 21 00:00:43,926 --> 00:00:44,984 I'm Wang Lijie 22 00:00:45,405 --> 00:00:47,164 today let's talk about Liaozhai 23 00:00:47,806 --> 00:00:49,885 in earlier episodes of Deconstructing Classics with Buddhism 24 00:00:50,325 --> 00:00:54,116 we unpacked the seasonal disorder in Flowers in the Mirror and the attachment of love in Dream of the Red Chamber 25 00:00:54,126 --> 00:00:58,024 the mind-monkey in Journey to the West and the ego in The Power of Now 26 00:00:58,166 --> 00:00:59,584 this time let's try something different 27 00:00:59,606 --> 00:01:01,745 instead of fixing on the hero of a long novel 28 00:01:01,806 --> 00:01:04,024 let's open the treasure chest of short tales 29 00:01:04,166 --> 00:01:07,985 and pull out these seemingly bizarre little stories one by one 30 00:01:08,045 --> 00:01:10,345 and examine them under the microscope of Consciousness-Only 31 00:01:10,960 --> 00:01:12,019 and you'll find 32 00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:14,260 Pu Songling was never writing tales of the strange 33 00:01:14,281 --> 00:01:15,579 he was writing case files 34 00:01:15,841 --> 00:01:16,939 five hundred case files 35 00:01:16,960 --> 00:01:19,340 each one a clinical sample of attachment 36 00:01:19,561 --> 00:01:21,820 this might sound a little jarring 37 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:23,519 many people grew up hearing Liaozhai 38 00:01:23,841 --> 00:01:27,560 their memory of it is all grandma's late-night ghost tales one night 39 00:01:27,561 --> 00:01:28,900 a scholar passes by a graveyard 40 00:01:28,921 --> 00:01:32,139 and sees horror suspense and seduction 41 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:35,379 but for an author to spend thirty or forty years writing five hundred pieces 42 00:01:35,561 --> 00:01:36,600 could it really be just to scare people 43 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:40,419 a serious writer would never spend that long just to frighten 44 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:42,460 he must be using the shell of a ghost 45 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:44,340 to hold things that are harder to say outright 46 00:01:45,553 --> 00:01:47,092 let's start with Pu Songling the man 47 00:01:47,514 --> 00:01:48,432 to understand a book 48 00:01:48,794 --> 00:01:50,652 you first have to understand the hand that wrote it 49 00:01:51,074 --> 00:01:53,493 Pu Songling was born in the year sixteen forty 50 00:01:53,634 --> 00:01:54,932 in Zichuan Shandong 51 00:01:55,154 --> 00:01:56,932 at nineteen he took the county exams 52 00:01:56,994 --> 00:01:59,133 and placed first in all three rounds county prefecture and circuit 53 00:01:59,154 --> 00:02:00,212 making his name overnight 54 00:02:00,473 --> 00:02:01,273 just as he came of age 55 00:02:01,514 --> 00:02:03,812 all of Shandong hailed him as a prodigy 56 00:02:04,033 --> 00:02:05,333 and he himself believed 57 00:02:05,354 --> 00:02:07,672 that soaring through the provincial metropolitan and palace exams 58 00:02:07,673 --> 00:02:08,893 was only a matter of time 59 00:02:09,946 --> 00:02:11,225 but this prodigy 60 00:02:11,587 --> 00:02:13,666 kept taking the exams from the age of nineteen 61 00:02:13,666 --> 00:02:14,965 for more than fifty years 62 00:02:15,187 --> 00:02:16,525 at forty-eight in the provincial exam 63 00:02:16,547 --> 00:02:19,345 he was failed outright for misplacing a single word on his paper 64 00:02:19,946 --> 00:02:20,945 at fifty-one he tried again 65 00:02:21,226 --> 00:02:22,606 and for some reason never finished 66 00:02:22,867 --> 00:02:24,146 not until he was seventy-one 67 00:02:24,147 --> 00:02:25,906 did he barely scrape into the rank of tribute student 68 00:02:25,906 --> 00:02:27,986 a title that wasn't earned by passing 69 00:02:27,987 --> 00:02:30,005 but ground out by seniority in a queue 70 00:02:30,147 --> 00:02:32,366 over fifty years nothing changed 71 00:02:32,386 --> 00:02:35,745 only one thing he never stopped doing writing Liaozhai 72 00:02:36,226 --> 00:02:38,106 from his thirties into his sixties 73 00:02:38,547 --> 00:02:39,426 more than thirty years 74 00:02:39,427 --> 00:02:40,445 nearly five hundred tales 75 00:02:41,222 --> 00:02:42,680 picture the scene 76 00:02:43,021 --> 00:02:44,561 a man overflowing with talent 77 00:02:44,621 --> 00:02:47,281 ground down by the exam system for half his life 78 00:02:47,382 --> 00:02:48,420 always falling just short 79 00:02:48,662 --> 00:02:50,080 and always failing 80 00:02:50,301 --> 00:02:51,960 the anger stuck in his chest with no way out 81 00:02:52,061 --> 00:02:54,640 and he couldn't curse the emperor or the examiners outright 82 00:02:54,741 --> 00:02:58,661 so everything he saw the corrupt officials the lackeys the schemers 83 00:02:58,901 --> 00:03:03,121 the ravaged common folk the twisted hearts he turned it all into ghost stories 84 00:03:03,301 --> 00:03:06,520 so the most terrifying thing in Liaozhai was never the ghosts 85 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:07,290 it's people 86 00:03:07,978 --> 00:03:08,656 that's the setup 87 00:03:08,937 --> 00:03:09,956 now to the heart of it 88 00:03:10,097 --> 00:03:12,016 I've picked three stories everyone knows 89 00:03:12,298 --> 00:03:13,216 and you'll find 90 00:03:13,217 --> 00:03:14,537 that the ghosts in these three stories 91 00:03:14,898 --> 00:03:17,877 are essentially the three seeds in your own heart 92 00:03:18,138 --> 00:03:18,668 the first story 93 00:03:18,678 --> 00:03:19,616 The Painted Skin 94 00:03:20,665 --> 00:03:21,944 in Taiyuan there was a scholar named Wang 95 00:03:22,346 --> 00:03:23,705 out for a morning walk 96 00:03:23,705 --> 00:03:25,284 he came across a young girl on the road 97 00:03:25,466 --> 00:03:26,624 the girl looked pitiful and frail 98 00:03:26,945 --> 00:03:28,925 she claimed to be the concubine of a wealthy family 99 00:03:28,985 --> 00:03:29,985 bullied by the first wife 100 00:03:30,186 --> 00:03:31,245 with nowhere to go 101 00:03:31,545 --> 00:03:32,624 Wang saw how beautiful she was 102 00:03:32,945 --> 00:03:34,045 and his heart leapt with joy 103 00:03:34,066 --> 00:03:35,684 he took her back and hid her in his study 104 00:03:35,866 --> 00:03:37,104 the two of them lay entwined in pleasure 105 00:03:37,466 --> 00:03:39,045 Wang was riding high 106 00:03:39,693 --> 00:03:40,293 a few days later 107 00:03:40,653 --> 00:03:42,633 Wang ran into a Taoist priest on the street 108 00:03:42,734 --> 00:03:44,573 the moment the priest saw him his face changed 109 00:03:44,574 --> 00:03:46,152 he said Wang was wrapped in a demonic aura 110 00:03:46,253 --> 00:03:48,853 Wang wasn't convinced the one at home was a beauty 111 00:03:48,854 --> 00:03:49,492 how could she be a demon 112 00:03:50,043 --> 00:03:50,842 he didn't believe it 113 00:03:50,933 --> 00:03:53,552 back home he secretly peered into the study through a crack in the window 114 00:03:53,693 --> 00:03:57,393 and what he saw shattered his soul there was no beauty in the room 115 00:03:57,413 --> 00:03:59,673 only a green-faced fanged demon 116 00:03:59,693 --> 00:04:01,992 spreading a human skin across the bed 117 00:04:02,014 --> 00:04:04,312 painting on the brows and eyes stroke by stroke with a brush 118 00:04:04,494 --> 00:04:04,893 when it finished 119 00:04:05,174 --> 00:04:07,552 the demon shook out the skin and draped it on 120 00:04:07,614 --> 00:04:10,633 and instantly became the beauty who had stolen his senses 121 00:04:11,397 --> 00:04:13,335 terrified Wang went begging to the Taoist 122 00:04:13,637 --> 00:04:15,536 the priest didn't really want to harm the ghost 123 00:04:15,797 --> 00:04:18,016 he gave Wang a fly whisk to deal with it himself 124 00:04:18,276 --> 00:04:18,916 but that very night 125 00:04:19,197 --> 00:04:21,156 the demon charged straight into the room 126 00:04:21,156 --> 00:04:21,995 tore out his heart 127 00:04:22,236 --> 00:04:23,416 and swaggered away 128 00:04:23,916 --> 00:04:25,815 that's the gist of the story simple as that 129 00:04:26,276 --> 00:04:26,956 so where's the point 130 00:04:28,045 --> 00:04:29,064 the point is 131 00:04:29,124 --> 00:04:32,424 from start to finish Wang never once saw the woman herself 132 00:04:32,845 --> 00:04:33,804 what he saw 133 00:04:33,804 --> 00:04:37,864 was a painted skin projected outward by the seed of lust in his own heart 134 00:04:38,324 --> 00:04:39,364 in the terms of Consciousness-Only 135 00:04:39,804 --> 00:04:41,463 this is called the imagined nature 136 00:04:41,804 --> 00:04:44,043 and what drives it from behind is the manas consciousness 137 00:04:44,525 --> 00:04:46,163 the manas doesn't look at what is out there 138 00:04:46,444 --> 00:04:47,843 it only looks at what I want 139 00:04:48,324 --> 00:04:50,244 and the mind then follows this what I want 140 00:04:50,444 --> 00:04:51,343 and paints it outward 141 00:04:51,684 --> 00:04:53,444 so the girl Wang saw 142 00:04:53,444 --> 00:04:55,143 never truly existed 143 00:04:55,244 --> 00:04:57,424 she was only the projection of his seed of lust 144 00:04:57,644 --> 00:04:59,403 that painted skin wasn't painted by a ghost 145 00:04:59,605 --> 00:05:00,984 he painted it himself 146 00:05:01,426 --> 00:05:02,185 the most terrifying part is 147 00:05:02,505 --> 00:05:04,404 when the projection grows ripe and full 148 00:05:04,465 --> 00:05:06,924 it turns around and devours the one who created it 149 00:05:07,265 --> 00:05:09,005 a seed doesn't only give you sweetness 150 00:05:09,106 --> 00:05:10,625 once it manifests past a certain threshold 151 00:05:10,626 --> 00:05:12,164 it will consume its host 152 00:05:12,505 --> 00:05:14,085 you think you're enjoying a romance 153 00:05:14,145 --> 00:05:17,404 but you're feeding a thing that will one day tear out your heart 154 00:05:17,945 --> 00:05:21,924 look at today's influencers heavily made up and drowning in filters on short videos 155 00:05:22,025 --> 00:05:23,385 do you think they are real people 156 00:05:23,866 --> 00:05:27,724 they are painted skins drawn bit by bit from the desire seeds of their viewers 157 00:05:28,065 --> 00:05:29,844 while you scroll you think you're looking at a person 158 00:05:29,945 --> 00:05:33,164 but you're really looking at the unfulfilled illusion in your own heart 159 00:05:33,505 --> 00:05:36,205 every like every pause every purchase 160 00:05:36,306 --> 00:05:39,265 is you digging out your own heart bit by bit 161 00:05:39,265 --> 00:05:40,176 and handing it to that painted skin 162 00:05:40,186 --> 00:05:44,385 The Painted Skin was written over three hundred years ago 163 00:05:44,385 --> 00:05:45,765 yet it has never grown old 164 00:05:46,370 --> 00:05:47,089 think one layer deeper 165 00:05:47,370 --> 00:05:49,168 what's even more ruthless about Pu Songling 166 00:05:49,169 --> 00:05:51,269 is that he wrote the antidote into it too 167 00:05:51,450 --> 00:05:54,608 how did Wang's wife Lady Chen finally bring her husband back 168 00:05:55,010 --> 00:05:55,769 through magic 169 00:05:56,048 --> 00:05:56,779 no 170 00:05:56,930 --> 00:05:58,529 she did it by swallowing her humiliation 171 00:05:58,529 --> 00:06:00,628 kneeling before a mad beggar in the marketplace 172 00:06:00,690 --> 00:06:02,108 and swallowing a mouthful of his phlegm 173 00:06:02,490 --> 00:06:05,248 why could that phlegm become the heart her husband had lost 174 00:06:05,890 --> 00:06:07,368 because Lady Chen's heart 175 00:06:07,370 --> 00:06:12,029 was born from her own shame her endurance and her unconditional love 176 00:06:12,209 --> 00:06:13,548 this is a true heart 177 00:06:13,649 --> 00:06:15,789 a heart no painted skin could ever paint 178 00:06:16,289 --> 00:06:18,139 here Pu Songling leaves a very deep silence 179 00:06:18,149 --> 00:06:21,108 false desire can tear out your heart 180 00:06:21,250 --> 00:06:24,149 but true love can grow you a new one 181 00:06:24,810 --> 00:06:28,248 this is the deep structure of The Painted Skin see the painted skin 182 00:06:28,649 --> 00:06:30,469 see the self behind the painted skin 183 00:06:30,769 --> 00:06:32,988 and then see what a true heart really is 184 00:06:33,717 --> 00:06:34,267 the second story 185 00:06:34,277 --> 00:06:35,316 The Cricket 186 00:06:35,917 --> 00:06:37,155 during the Xuande reign of the Ming dynasty 187 00:06:37,436 --> 00:06:38,975 the emperor loved cricket fighting 188 00:06:39,116 --> 00:06:41,176 and each year the court demanded tribute from every region 189 00:06:41,397 --> 00:06:44,335 in Huayin county there was an honest scholar named Cheng Ming 190 00:06:44,516 --> 00:06:46,895 whom the cunning clerks named as village head 191 00:06:47,037 --> 00:06:49,056 saddling him with the duty of collecting crickets 192 00:06:49,196 --> 00:06:50,715 he couldn't catch a good one himself 193 00:06:50,717 --> 00:06:52,455 and had to bankrupt his family buying them 194 00:06:52,636 --> 00:06:53,676 he grew poorer and poorer 195 00:06:53,957 --> 00:06:55,176 and was beaten half to death 196 00:06:55,513 --> 00:06:59,852 just then his nine-year-old son secretly opened the pot his father had struggled to fill 197 00:07:00,552 --> 00:07:01,472 the cricket jumped out 198 00:07:01,672 --> 00:07:02,272 the boy grabbed at it 199 00:07:02,592 --> 00:07:03,392 its leg broke 200 00:07:03,393 --> 00:07:04,111 its belly split 201 00:07:04,352 --> 00:07:05,051 it died 202 00:07:05,513 --> 00:07:07,292 terrified the boy ran off 203 00:07:07,313 --> 00:07:09,292 and was finally pulled out of a well 204 00:07:09,592 --> 00:07:12,011 barely breathing when they hauled him up 205 00:07:12,273 --> 00:07:13,892 he only regained his breath in the dead of night 206 00:07:14,032 --> 00:07:16,371 but he lay there dazed and unmoving 207 00:07:16,712 --> 00:07:18,311 Cheng Ming kept watch over a son like this 208 00:07:18,552 --> 00:07:19,652 in utter despair 209 00:07:20,561 --> 00:07:21,980 and the boy's soul 210 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:24,300 had already entered a small cricket 211 00:07:24,641 --> 00:07:26,199 this cricket was thin and tiny 212 00:07:26,561 --> 00:07:27,720 unremarkable to look at 213 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:28,360 but a fierce fighter 214 00:07:28,800 --> 00:07:30,100 able to beat the strong from a place of weakness 215 00:07:30,401 --> 00:07:31,879 it was passed up rank by rank 216 00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:33,540 and finally presented to the emperor 217 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:34,999 the emperor was overjoyed 218 00:07:35,321 --> 00:07:36,819 and lavished rewards on officials at every level 219 00:07:37,001 --> 00:07:41,220 and Cheng Ming's family at the very bottom now had a hundred acres of land grand houses and fine clothes 220 00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:43,220 grander than the old noble clans 221 00:07:43,561 --> 00:07:44,559 the family grew rich 222 00:07:44,561 --> 00:07:48,059 but the cricket fighting for the whole family in its golden cage 223 00:07:48,120 --> 00:07:49,220 was his son 224 00:07:49,702 --> 00:07:51,322 the brilliance of this story 225 00:07:51,423 --> 00:07:53,882 is that it takes alienation right down to the bone 226 00:07:54,222 --> 00:07:55,022 what is alienation 227 00:07:55,582 --> 00:07:57,121 the thing you chase after with all your might 228 00:07:57,303 --> 00:07:59,041 in the end becomes you yourself 229 00:07:59,582 --> 00:08:02,762 the lowest official offers crickets to please the emperor 230 00:08:02,983 --> 00:08:06,002 the common folk hand over crickets to protect their families 231 00:08:06,303 --> 00:08:09,642 a nine-year-old boy becomes a cricket to be accepted by the system 232 00:08:09,902 --> 00:08:12,142 everyone on the chain is no longer a person 233 00:08:12,503 --> 00:08:15,121 but a cog in the system an insect 234 00:08:16,044 --> 00:08:16,683 what is this 235 00:08:17,005 --> 00:08:18,823 it is the ultimate form of greed 236 00:08:19,084 --> 00:08:21,524 the deepest layer of greed isn't I want more 237 00:08:21,844 --> 00:08:23,604 it's as long as I can get it 238 00:08:23,604 --> 00:08:25,284 I'm willing to become anything 239 00:08:26,005 --> 00:08:28,024 you think you're chasing after something 240 00:08:28,205 --> 00:08:30,003 and as you go you come to realize 241 00:08:30,005 --> 00:08:31,503 you are that thing 242 00:08:31,844 --> 00:08:32,724 chase money your whole life 243 00:08:33,044 --> 00:08:34,323 and you become a measure of money 244 00:08:34,724 --> 00:08:35,563 chase fame your whole life 245 00:08:35,805 --> 00:08:37,524 and you become a label in other people's eyes 246 00:08:38,005 --> 00:08:39,103 chase power your whole life 247 00:08:39,164 --> 00:08:42,103 and power reshapes you into the shape it needs 248 00:08:42,365 --> 00:08:45,943 Pu Songling coldly placed this mechanism inside a single cricket 249 00:08:46,044 --> 00:08:47,923 a nine-year-old boy turns into a cricket 250 00:08:47,924 --> 00:08:49,943 to fight the family's battle in the halls of power 251 00:08:50,125 --> 00:08:50,923 the family's gold and silver 252 00:08:51,204 --> 00:08:53,063 was bought with his soul 253 00:08:54,122 --> 00:08:54,921 this is collective karma 254 00:08:55,203 --> 00:08:56,382 this is cause and effect 255 00:08:56,642 --> 00:08:58,661 this is why the Lotus Sutra says 256 00:08:58,762 --> 00:08:59,842 the three realms know no peace 257 00:08:59,843 --> 00:09:00,982 they are like a burning house 258 00:09:01,282 --> 00:09:03,181 you think you've come in to grab some benefit 259 00:09:03,282 --> 00:09:06,102 but the moment you enter you're already firewood 260 00:09:06,757 --> 00:09:09,376 today many parents plan out their children's futures 261 00:09:09,556 --> 00:09:12,016 and they're replaying the very script of Cheng Ming's family 262 00:09:12,237 --> 00:09:14,075 only they're not offering up crickets 263 00:09:14,077 --> 00:09:16,575 they're offering up resumes award certificates and report cards 264 00:09:16,957 --> 00:09:19,136 a seven-year-old enrolled in five after-school classes 265 00:09:19,276 --> 00:09:22,075 each one for the chance that one day he might rise up and fight for it 266 00:09:22,636 --> 00:09:24,096 and by the time he's twenty-five 267 00:09:24,156 --> 00:09:27,455 he doesn't even know if he's a person or a resume 268 00:09:27,636 --> 00:09:28,435 where is his soul 269 00:09:28,957 --> 00:09:31,695 perhaps already in the golden cage of some company 270 00:09:31,757 --> 00:09:35,175 fighting day and night for a ranking he has no idea why he's chasing 271 00:09:35,776 --> 00:09:37,596 this is the modern version of collective karma 272 00:09:37,896 --> 00:09:39,356 it's not that one person is greedy 273 00:09:39,457 --> 00:09:41,395 it's the whole system being greedy together 274 00:09:41,896 --> 00:09:43,216 everyone is forced to be greedy 275 00:09:43,616 --> 00:09:44,775 because if you aren't 276 00:09:44,776 --> 00:09:46,395 your child gets squeezed out 277 00:09:46,896 --> 00:09:48,756 everyone hates this game 278 00:09:48,776 --> 00:09:51,836 yet everyone is a hand pushing the game forward 279 00:09:52,474 --> 00:09:53,143 the third story 280 00:09:53,153 --> 00:09:54,552 The Taoist of Mount Lao 281 00:09:55,153 --> 00:09:58,812 there was a young man also named Wang Pu Songling's heroes are often named Wang 282 00:09:58,954 --> 00:10:01,253 the surname is simply so common in China 283 00:10:01,474 --> 00:10:03,353 this Wang didn't want an ordinary life 284 00:10:03,594 --> 00:10:04,692 he wanted to learn the arts of immortality 285 00:10:04,873 --> 00:10:06,772 hearing that the Taoist of Mount Lao had supernatural powers 286 00:10:06,834 --> 00:10:08,493 he shouldered his pack and climbed the mountain 287 00:10:08,919 --> 00:10:11,597 at a glance the master saw he couldn't bear hardship 288 00:10:11,598 --> 00:10:13,017 but let him in anyway 289 00:10:13,159 --> 00:10:14,918 his daily task wasn't chanting or meditation 290 00:10:15,198 --> 00:10:16,097 it was chopping wood 291 00:10:16,559 --> 00:10:17,517 Wang chopped for a month 292 00:10:17,718 --> 00:10:18,877 his hands grew thick with calluses 293 00:10:18,878 --> 00:10:21,357 and he began to fume I came to learn supernatural powers 294 00:10:21,478 --> 00:10:22,977 not to be a woodcutter 295 00:10:23,198 --> 00:10:23,678 he wanted to leave 296 00:10:24,039 --> 00:10:26,277 but before going he clung on master 297 00:10:26,279 --> 00:10:27,718 at least teach me something 298 00:10:27,718 --> 00:10:29,418 this month of chopping can't be for nothing 299 00:10:29,718 --> 00:10:30,637 the master looked at him 300 00:10:30,919 --> 00:10:31,637 and said fine 301 00:10:31,878 --> 00:10:33,538 I'll teach you to walk through walls 302 00:10:33,985 --> 00:10:35,583 Wang learned the wall-walking art 303 00:10:35,904 --> 00:10:37,284 and went home elated 304 00:10:37,424 --> 00:10:41,803 the moment he stepped in he bragged to his wife on Mount Lao I mastered an immortal's power 305 00:10:41,824 --> 00:10:43,124 not even walls can stop me 306 00:10:43,265 --> 00:10:44,203 his wife didn't believe him 307 00:10:44,304 --> 00:10:44,823 Wang said 308 00:10:45,024 --> 00:10:45,884 watch me 309 00:10:45,944 --> 00:10:47,063 he stepped back a few paces 310 00:10:47,064 --> 00:10:49,803 gathered his breath and charged at the wall with a thud 311 00:10:49,824 --> 00:10:51,703 a lump the size of an egg swelled on his forehead 312 00:10:51,705 --> 00:10:52,764 the story ends 313 00:10:53,696 --> 00:10:54,515 at first glance 314 00:10:54,616 --> 00:10:57,755 it seems to be about not being clever by half and being willing to endure hardship 315 00:10:57,937 --> 00:11:01,836 but through a Buddhist lens it's a parable about spiritual greed 316 00:11:02,096 --> 00:11:03,375 Wang isn't unwilling to practice 317 00:11:03,696 --> 00:11:04,875 he just wants a shortcut 318 00:11:05,057 --> 00:11:06,336 what he wants isn't the Way 319 00:11:06,657 --> 00:11:09,255 it's a me who can walk through walls a me greater than his neighbor 320 00:11:09,576 --> 00:11:12,036 greater than his wife greater than everyone 321 00:11:12,177 --> 00:11:13,296 his motive for seeking the Way 322 00:11:13,297 --> 00:11:15,716 is to make the self bigger and shinier 323 00:11:16,731 --> 00:11:17,969 what is this called in Buddhism 324 00:11:18,411 --> 00:11:21,069 it's self-attachment dressed in the robes of practice 325 00:11:21,170 --> 00:11:24,229 more hidden than greed for wealth lust or fame 326 00:11:24,330 --> 00:11:27,229 because you've already climbed the mountain meditated and chanted 327 00:11:27,330 --> 00:11:28,569 yet the aim of your practice 328 00:11:28,570 --> 00:11:30,790 is to make that self more powerful 329 00:11:31,050 --> 00:11:33,189 the master of Mount Lao had seen through it all along 330 00:11:33,210 --> 00:11:34,170 when he taught the wall-walking art 331 00:11:34,450 --> 00:11:35,770 he wasn't passing on real skill 332 00:11:35,771 --> 00:11:38,650 he was giving a lesson the self you haven't let go of 333 00:11:38,930 --> 00:11:40,030 is that very wall 334 00:11:40,290 --> 00:11:41,369 while on the mountain 335 00:11:41,371 --> 00:11:43,569 you wrapped it in the loftiness of seeking immortality 336 00:11:43,930 --> 00:11:45,170 but once down the mountain and pleased with yourself 337 00:11:45,450 --> 00:11:46,869 it shows itself at once 338 00:11:46,970 --> 00:11:47,770 and then this self 339 00:11:47,970 --> 00:11:49,869 slams you until your head is bloodied 340 00:11:50,607 --> 00:11:51,846 this compassion of the master 341 00:11:52,246 --> 00:11:54,305 Pu Songling wrote with remarkable restraint 342 00:11:54,646 --> 00:11:56,746 he didn't have the master scold Wang 343 00:11:56,886 --> 00:11:59,226 nor did he let Wang stumble on the mountain 344 00:11:59,487 --> 00:12:02,265 he let Wang walk through walls quite convincingly 345 00:12:02,366 --> 00:12:03,905 smug all the way down 346 00:12:04,126 --> 00:12:08,106 until the very moment before the person closest to him when he most wanted to show off 347 00:12:08,126 --> 00:12:09,425 only then does he crash into a lump 348 00:12:09,847 --> 00:12:12,746 this stroke is so cold-eyed some lessons 349 00:12:12,807 --> 00:12:15,506 can only be learned at the very moment you think you've won 350 00:12:15,567 --> 00:12:16,665 only then can you learn them 351 00:12:17,126 --> 00:12:18,246 think about your own life 352 00:12:18,607 --> 00:12:20,086 have you ever had a moment like this 353 00:12:20,646 --> 00:12:22,326 some ability you'd honed for a long time 354 00:12:22,727 --> 00:12:24,425 that you brought out full of confidence 355 00:12:24,567 --> 00:12:27,506 only to trip up right where you were proudest 356 00:12:28,286 --> 00:12:29,785 it's not that your ability fell short 357 00:12:29,886 --> 00:12:33,145 it's the thought of using it to prove how great I am 358 00:12:33,366 --> 00:12:35,226 that instantly turned it into a wall 359 00:12:35,487 --> 00:12:37,785 this is the modern version of The Taoist of Mount Lao 360 00:12:38,677 --> 00:12:39,027 so you see 361 00:12:39,037 --> 00:12:42,056 the ghosts in Liaozhai have three layers 362 00:12:42,437 --> 00:12:43,155 the shallowest layer 363 00:12:43,476 --> 00:12:45,236 is the ghost of lust The Painted Skin 364 00:12:45,876 --> 00:12:46,675 it seems to come from outside 365 00:12:46,957 --> 00:12:48,056 but it is born from within 366 00:12:48,396 --> 00:12:49,116 the middle layer 367 00:12:49,476 --> 00:12:51,275 is the ghost of greed The Cricket 368 00:12:51,957 --> 00:12:53,076 the one who chases what he seeks 369 00:12:53,356 --> 00:12:55,535 in the end takes the shape of what he sought 370 00:12:55,917 --> 00:12:56,936 the deepest layer 371 00:12:56,957 --> 00:12:59,436 is the ghost on the path of practice The Taoist of Mount Lao 372 00:12:59,957 --> 00:13:01,255 you think you're climbing the mountain 373 00:13:01,356 --> 00:13:03,596 but you're only carrying a more refined self 374 00:13:03,957 --> 00:13:06,175 into an even larger cage 375 00:13:06,968 --> 00:13:08,786 this is greed hatred and delusion 376 00:13:09,248 --> 00:13:09,887 greed is the surface 377 00:13:10,448 --> 00:13:11,326 hatred is its flip side 378 00:13:11,807 --> 00:13:12,906 delusion is the ground beneath 379 00:13:13,287 --> 00:13:15,027 three seeds tangled together 380 00:13:15,088 --> 00:13:17,027 each one will flower and bear fruit 381 00:13:17,088 --> 00:13:19,306 and each one will turn around and devour you 382 00:13:19,608 --> 00:13:20,767 and have you noticed 383 00:13:21,328 --> 00:13:22,446 among these three protagonists 384 00:13:22,687 --> 00:13:24,306 two are named Wang 385 00:13:24,767 --> 00:13:25,867 this isn't laziness 386 00:13:26,208 --> 00:13:27,218 in Ming and Qing fiction 387 00:13:27,228 --> 00:13:30,826 Scholar Wang is the code name for the most ordinary male scholar 388 00:13:30,968 --> 00:13:32,607 like saying young Wang today 389 00:13:33,368 --> 00:13:36,748 Pu Songling is telling you the Wang in The Painted Skin 390 00:13:36,748 --> 00:13:40,987 the Cheng Ming collecting crickets in The Cricket the Wang afraid of chopping wood on Mount Lao 391 00:13:41,047 --> 00:13:41,686 they are all you 392 00:13:42,088 --> 00:13:42,987 they are all me 393 00:13:43,128 --> 00:13:46,987 they are every ordinary person who has passed through this world 394 00:13:47,927 --> 00:13:49,046 their greed hatred and delusion 395 00:13:49,328 --> 00:13:50,926 isn't because they are especially depraved 396 00:13:50,927 --> 00:13:52,627 but because they are human 397 00:13:53,160 --> 00:13:55,898 the Buddha said the three poisons are the ground color of all beings 398 00:13:55,920 --> 00:13:57,699 not the privilege of a few bad people 399 00:13:57,920 --> 00:13:59,799 with five hundred stories Pu Songling 400 00:13:59,800 --> 00:14:03,219 translated this saying into the vernacular of Ming and Qing China 401 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:05,998 so if you open Liaozhai again today 402 00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:07,118 what will you see 403 00:14:07,560 --> 00:14:11,539 you'll see an old man ground down by the exam system for fifty years 404 00:14:11,599 --> 00:14:13,398 sitting under an oil lamp in Zichuan Shandong 405 00:14:13,640 --> 00:14:14,658 with a single brush 406 00:14:14,719 --> 00:14:19,018 calmly writing five hundred dissection reports on the whole world's attachments 407 00:14:19,520 --> 00:14:21,459 each piece is a seed 408 00:14:21,759 --> 00:14:24,738 and every seed waits for its moment to manifest 409 00:14:24,999 --> 00:14:27,539 and when you and I read these stories today 410 00:14:27,599 --> 00:14:29,498 we aren't reading ancient curiosities 411 00:14:29,759 --> 00:14:31,059 we're looking in a mirror 412 00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:33,219 every short video you scroll 413 00:14:33,280 --> 00:14:34,439 is a miniature painted skin 414 00:14:35,119 --> 00:14:39,799 every moment you contort yourself for a title a school-district home a child's ranking 415 00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:40,998 is a miniature cricket 416 00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:45,939 every time you open a meditation app buy a spiritual book or join a retreat 417 00:14:46,079 --> 00:14:49,459 only to find the self grows bigger and more easily stung 418 00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:51,738 that is your Taoist of Mount Lao moment 419 00:14:52,130 --> 00:14:53,609 Pu Songling wrote five hundred stories 420 00:14:53,809 --> 00:14:54,908 you don't need to read them all 421 00:14:55,169 --> 00:14:57,149 just recognize yourself in one of them 422 00:14:57,210 --> 00:14:58,749 and you've truly read the book 423 00:14:58,809 --> 00:14:59,168 of course 424 00:14:59,409 --> 00:15:01,100 what I've offered today is only one angle of entry 425 00:15:01,110 --> 00:15:05,469 Liaozhai also holds many stories of deep love compassion and kindred spirits 426 00:15:05,610 --> 00:15:08,389 like Nie Xiaoqian Yingning and Xiaocui 427 00:15:08,529 --> 00:15:09,529 the ghosts in those stories 428 00:15:09,809 --> 00:15:11,989 are more human than many of the living 429 00:15:12,689 --> 00:15:15,708 Nie Xiaoqian was a ghost forced by a demon to harm others 430 00:15:15,850 --> 00:15:18,869 but meeting the upright Ning Caichen who did not covet her beauty 431 00:15:18,970 --> 00:15:20,808 she came instead to long to become human 432 00:15:21,450 --> 00:15:23,328 Yingning was born of a fox woman in the mountains 433 00:15:23,689 --> 00:15:24,989 her laughter knew no bounds 434 00:15:25,009 --> 00:15:27,928 yet it laughed away every scheme and calculation in the world 435 00:15:28,490 --> 00:15:30,109 Xiaocui too was a fox woman 436 00:15:30,169 --> 00:15:33,588 who to repay a debt walked a foolish young man through his hardest years 437 00:15:33,889 --> 00:15:36,788 the seeds planted in these ghosts weren't greed hatred and delusion 438 00:15:36,889 --> 00:15:40,548 they were gratitude laughter and an indefinable purity 439 00:15:40,970 --> 00:15:42,308 what Pu Songling means is 440 00:15:42,370 --> 00:15:46,428 what matters was never whether you're human or ghost living or dead 441 00:15:46,490 --> 00:15:48,749 but what seed is buried in your heart 442 00:15:49,330 --> 00:15:51,869 greed wrapped in human skin is the true ghost 443 00:15:52,049 --> 00:15:54,869 a true heart housed in a ghost is the true human 444 00:15:55,687 --> 00:15:59,706 so here's a question to leave with you the heart of the living and the painted skin of a ghost 445 00:15:59,767 --> 00:16:00,686 what really sets them apart 446 00:16:01,246 --> 00:16:03,086 is it the true heart beneath the surface 447 00:16:03,527 --> 00:16:07,806 or whether you dare to let the seed in your heart be seen by another 448 00:16:08,407 --> 00:16:11,265 if you've read the piece in Liaozhai that moved you most 449 00:16:11,326 --> 00:16:13,745 tell me in the comments which one it was 450 00:16:13,846 --> 00:16:16,105 and which seed in your heart it laid bare 451 00:16:16,206 --> 00:16:17,206 you can also tell me 452 00:16:17,206 --> 00:16:19,245 do you think Pu Songling was writing about ghosts 453 00:16:19,246 --> 00:16:22,826 or about himself tormented by the exams his whole life 454 00:16:23,167 --> 00:16:23,645 this question 455 00:16:24,047 --> 00:16:25,625 I'd love to hear your answer too 456 00:16:26,201 --> 00:16:26,561 alright 457 00:16:26,802 --> 00:16:28,021 that's all for today 458 00:16:28,042 --> 00:16:28,760 I'm Wang Lijie 459 00:16:29,002 --> 00:16:30,260 see you next time