What Is Seen Is a Dream, What Is Unseen Is the Soul

jiejing

What Is Seen Is a Dream, What Is Unseen Is the Soul

Xuefeng

August 23, 2025

All things and phenomena that can be seen are ruled by what cannot be seen. The more invisible something is, the more it governs the arising, development, flourishing, transformation, and decline of the visible.

“When one studies ten years in silence, no one asks; when success comes in a single stroke, the whole world knows.”
The “world knowing” is what can be seen. But what leads to that visible glory is the unseen—the ten years of quiet, diligent study. Whether in sports, the arts, culture, or business, behind every so-called “overnight success” are countless unseen, unnoticed drops of effort.

From the perspective of probability: a child born into a landlord or capitalist family, once the conditions of time and place favor their growth, has a much higher chance of again becoming landlord or capitalist than a child of poor peasants or workers. This is not luck, but the unseen influence of cognition and cultural genes passed down from parents and even grandparents. For two thousand years, China has produced few universally acknowledged philosophers, scientists, or inventors, while regions grounded in European culture have continually given rise to them. This outward phenomenon that people see is in fact driven by unseen culture and belief.

A watermelon seed buried in soil takes root, sprouts, flowers, and finally bears a great melon. This we can see. Yet the reason why a seed becomes a melon lies in what we cannot see—the genetic code within the seed and the nourishment silently provided from outside.

Rain falls from the sky, visible to the eye. But the causes that bring the rain are invisible.

The appearance of Hitler was foretold hundreds of years earlier in The Centuries. Chiang Kai-shek’s rise was written in the ancient Jinling Pagoda Stele Inscription. This shows that the birth and emergence of Hitler, Chiang, and all other special figures—these visible events—were decided and ruled by unseen forces. The visible is like a dream; the unseen is the master of the dream, the soul.

From this reasoning we know: the appearance of the earth, the formation and movement of the solar system, the Milky Way, the spiral galaxies—these visible things and phenomena are governed by the unseen soul.

This gives us an insight: do not pursue what is visible, for all visible things and phenomena are dreams. The ruler that creates the dream is the unseen. Therefore, if you wish to have a good dream, you must work on the unseen cause. For example, if you wish to live in a villa and drive a luxury car, do not fix your eyes on the villa and the car, nor spend your mind on how to get them, but rather on the unseen causes that lead to them.

Heaven is a splendid and abundant dream. But if one merely longs day by day to possess the life of heaven, it will surely end in emptiness, like drawing water with a bamboo basket (a futile effort). The true cause of entering heaven lies in the quality of one’s LIFE. To enter heaven, one’s LIFE quality must reach the standard of heaven itself. This is why I always emphasize: “Of all matters, the purification of the soul is the greatest.” The soul is unseen. When pure, it leads to a life of heaven. When mixed and chaotic, it leads to an ordinary human life. When polluted and poisoned, it leads to a life in hell.

I believe those who once lived, or now live, in the Second Home of Lifechanyuan have felt this deeply. If the souls of people living together—whether a few or dozens—are pure, life is pleasant, harmonious, and nourishing. If the soul is not purified, even among just a few people life becomes uneasy, unpleasant, even unbearable.
Taste and reflect: if your soul and the souls of those around you have been purified, then regardless of outer conditions—whether rich and luxurious or poor and simple—you will live as if bathed in spring breeze, full of vitality and joy. But if the soul is not purified, even if you are surrounded by the wealthy, the talented, or the beautiful, life will still be bitter, depressing, and repressive.

The pity is that most people fix their eyes and hearts only on visible things and phenomena, while rarely paying attention to the unseen ruler, and thus their whole life is filled with worry, suffering, anxiety, and distress.

Worse still, some who are enjoying blessings feel no gratitude, imagining that all they possess is deserved. They forget, or never know, that the fortune they enjoy is supported by the light, labor, and sacrifice of others. Corrupt officials who enrich themselves, or heirs of the wealthy who live off inherited fortune, face the danger that disaster may strike at any time, returning them in a single night to nothing. Just as the Celestial Dog (Xiaotian Quan), the divine hound of Erlang Shen—once parted from Erlang Shen—is but an ordinary watchdog. Countless officials and associates drawn into massive corruption scandals are typical examples.

Thus my view: everyone creates their own dream. But the path to a beautiful dream does not lie within the dream itself, but within the quality of LIFE.

The bright moon at night must remember: its light is not its own, but a reflection of the sun. Likewise, if Xuefeng shines with even a spark of light, it is not because of any wisdom or ability of mine, but only that I reflect the glory of the Greatest Creator and the radiance of gods, buddhas, Celestial Beings, and saints.

The unseen is the soul.
The unseen is the ruler.
The unseen is the essence that decides all.