Since ancient times, fortune and misfortune have their determinations; how could partings and reunions be without cause?
“When dyed in blue, it becomes blue; when dyed in yellow, it becomes yellow.”
The Four Levels of Cognition
1. Sensory Level – Basic perception and intuition.
2. Rational Level – Reasoning and logical thinking.
3. Reflective Level – Awareness of one’s own thinking and cognitive processes.
4. Transcendent Level – Wisdom or intuitive insight that transcends dualistic distinctions.
If we extend beyond these four levels, Buddhist thought enters the realm of “formless wisdom” or “emptiness wisdom”, which is no longer cognition in the conventional sense but rather awakening beyond cognition.
How Cognitive Levels Shape Thinking
A person’s mode of thinking is closely tied to the cognitive level of the material he or she regularly engages with.
If one’s reading, learning, and reflection are long confined to a particular level, over time one’s mind becomes trapped within that level, unable to break through.
1. Staying at the “Memory/Information Level”
• If someone only reads news headlines, fragmented short pieces, or gossip every day, their mind becomes accustomed to passive reception. Their thinking remains on the surface, unaccustomed to deeper analysis.
2. Staying at the “Understanding/Application Level”
• If one mostly reads manuals and practical guides, one can quickly solve problems but rarely asks “why.” Thinking becomes pragmatic, but may lack holistic vision.
3. Staying at the “Analysis/Critique Level”
• If most reading consists of commentary or criticism, the mind becomes sharp at finding faults but may grow overly accustomed to fault-finding, making constructive or creative thinking more difficult.
4. Staying at the “Philosophical/Reflective Level”
• If one spends all day immersed in philosophical speculation, one may cultivate abstract thought but risk becoming detached from reality and poor at practical action.
5. Entering the “Transcendent/Buddhist Wisdom Level”
• If one frequently studies Buddhist scriptures, Zen kōans, or Prajñā teachings, the habitual boundary between “self and object” gradually softens. One becomes more able to let go of attachments and experience the freedom of “nothing to attain.”
Lü Buwei’s Warning in Lüshi Chunqiu
This is why Lü Buwei admonished the King of Qin in Lüshi Chunqiu: beware of “being dyed.”
In Shen Da Lan · Shen Fen Lan it is said:
“When dyed in blue, it becomes blue; when dyed in yellow, it becomes yellow.”
That is, white silk, when immersed in blue dye, turns blue; when immersed in yellow dye, turns yellow.
So too, a person’s disposition, habits, and thoughts are transformed by the environment with which he associates.
Lü Buwei especially urged the ruler to be cautious in choosing those close to him, for courtiers and attendants act as the “dye vats” that imperceptibly influence the sovereign’s decisions.
The Deeper Meaning of “Being Dyed”
The more serious danger lies not in what content one is dyed by, but in what cognitive level one is dyed into.
Many understand “being dyed” only as a matter of good content vs. bad content—as if noble or virtuous material will never cause harm.
But the more insidious “dyeing” is when one’s cognitive level becomes fixed, regardless of the content itself.
Why is being dyed at a level more serious?
1. Content can be replaced, but levels are hard to transcend
• Switching from gossip news to motivational stories seems like moving from “bad dyeing → good dyeing.”
• Yet if both remain at the sensory/emotional level, the mind still cannot ascend to analysis, reflection, or transcendence.
• Changing the content without changing the level means one is still “dyed.”
2. Levels determine vision
• A person at the memory/understanding level, even when reading the classics, may only treat them as a “collection of quotations,” without true reflection or application.
• A person at the creative/prajñā wisdom level, even when reading a short anecdote, can see beyond appearances into deeper causes and truths.
3. Content-dyeing is a partial influence, level-dyeing is a fundamental constraint
• Content is like the water in a cup—it can be changed.
• Level is like the shape of the cup—if it is fixed, no matter how often the water is changed, the capacity remains the same.
Thus, if one remains immersed in a single cognitive level, even if surrounded only by “upright words,” one may still remain trapped in shallow understanding, unable to reach higher insight.
A Modern Parallel
Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, in a 2002 Pentagon press briefing on the Iraq War, articulated a now-famous threefold distinction:
1. Known knowns – things we know that we know.
2. Known unknowns – things we know we do not know.
3. Unknown unknowns – things we do not even know that we do not know.
This perspective underscores the same point: true strategic thinking requires breaking beyond fixed levels of cognition, not merely accumulating content.
Thus, striving to read works of the highest cognitive level and to engage with vehicles of the highest cognition is the only path to transcending cognitive limitation.
Historians have often observed that from the late 6th century BCE to the first half of the 5th century BCE, many great thinkers or “sages” appeared almost simultaneously across different parts of the world. In the history of philosophy and religion this phenomenon is referred to as the “Axial Age”, a concept first introduced by the German philosopher Karl Jaspers (1883–1969). The story of Lady Yi Gu of Lu, though she was an ordinary woman, vividly reflects the universal goodness and moral conscience that characterized human civilization in that era.
🌏 Sages and Thinkers around 500 BCE
• China
• Confucius (551–479 BCE): Founder of Confucianism
• Laozi (traditionally said to be born c. 571 BCE): Representative of Daoism
• Mozi (c. 468–391 BCE): Founder of Mohism
• Other masters and schools of thought (the “Hundred Schools of Philosophy”) began to flourish
• India
• Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha (c. 563–483 BCE): Founder of Buddhism
• Mahāvīra (599–527 BCE): Founder of Jainism
• Persia
• Zoroaster (Zarathustra, somewhat earlier—possibly c. 600–500 BCE): Whose teachings were consolidated into Zoroastrianism
• Greece
• Socrates (470–399 BCE): Foundational figure of Western philosophy
• Pythagoras (570–495 BCE)
• Pre-Socratic philosophers such as Heraclitus and Parmenides
• Israel
• Prophetic figures active in the late 7th–6th centuries BCE, including Jeremiah (c. 650–570 BCE), Ezekiel (c. 622–570 BCE), and the so-called “Second and Third Isaiah” traditions (6th–5th centuries BCE)
Despite having no direct contact with one another, these civilizations almost simultaneously gave rise to universal philosophies of ethics and religion.
During the Zhou dynasty, there was a woman of the state of Lu. When the state of Qi attacked Lu, amid the chaos of war she abandoned the infant she was holding in her arms, and instead carried the child she was leading by the hand.
The soldiers of Qi, seeing this, were astonished and asked her:
“You have cast aside the child you carried—who is he to you?”
The woman replied:
“He is my own son.”
The soldiers asked again:
“And the child you now carry, who is he?”
She answered:
“He is my elder brother’s son.”
The soldiers pressed further:
“Why did you abandon your own son, yet carry your brother’s son?”
The woman said:
“A son, to his mother, belongs to private affection; but a nephew, to his aunt, belongs to public duty. If I were to forsake righteousness for the sake of private love, my brother’s orphan would be left without support. That is what I cannot bear to do.”
Hearing her words, the soldiers of Qi said:
“In the outskirts of Lu, there are women who still uphold integrity and righteousness—how much more so its ruler!”
So they withdrew their army and returned to Qi without attacking further.
When the ruler of Lu heard of this, he rewarded the woman with rich gifts, and gave her the title The Righteous Aunt of Lu.
—-Biographies of Exemplary Women – Mothers’ Virtue (Liexü Zhuan, “Muyi Zhuan”)
In a fleeting moment free from desire, one departs the defiled world;
In an instant, seeing one’s true nature, one arrives at the Pure Land.
All day immersed in desire, eyes full of gain and loss, do not blame being born in the defiled world; it is the call of one’s own mind.
In a fleeting moment of purity, unattached and unobstructed, the present is already the Land of Ultimate Bliss, with the ocean of one’s true nature fully manifest.
During the Han Dynasty, Liang Tong petitioned the court to increase the severity of legal punishments. However, the court did not accept his suggestion. Later, Liang Tong had a dream in which a deity said to him:
“Liang Tong! Although it is fortunate that the court did not follow your advice, the underworld has already recorded your offenses. Today, you intended to use punishment to harm the people, and your heart was truly cruel. How could your descendants escape the calamity of punishment? Your actions have already offended Heaven, and even if you pray, it is of no use!”
Later, Liang Tong’s sons all died unnatural deaths. In the case of Liang Ji, his crimes accumulated even more, and ultimately the emperor issued an edict to annihilate his entire clan, executing every member.
During the Ming Dynasty, Master Lianchi once wrote an essay urging people to abstain from killing. He said:
“Every person cherishes their own life, and animals are the same—they desire to live and fear death. How then can we kill them to satisfy our appetite? When killing living beings, we may cut open their bellies with a sharp knife, pierce their internal organs with a pointed blade, strip their skin, scrape off their scales, sever their throats, or split their shells. Some are boiled alive in hot water, while others are salted or pickled alive, such as crabs and shrimp. How pitiful! They suffer such great pain with no way to seek justice. This extreme suffering is truly unbearable. By committing the tremendous sin of slaughtering living beings, people accumulate endless enmity with the creatures they kill. When impermanence arrives, one immediately falls into hell, enduring the torments of boiling cauldrons, burning coals, mountains of knives, sword trees, and various other punishments. After the punishments in hell are completed, one must still be reborn as an animal to repay the life debt incurred by killing and eating flesh. Once the life debt is repaid, one may be reborn as a human again, but will suffer illness and die young. Therefore, today I sorrowfully admonish all people, universally encouraging everyone to abstain from killing. Moreover, according to one’s ability, one should release living beings and recite the Buddha’s name. This not only increases one’s merit and virtue but also ensures that one can be reborn in the Western Pure Land according to one’s aspirations, forever escaping the suffering of the six realms of cyclic existence and benefiting all sentient beings—achieving boundless merit!”
Anecdote of Venerable Master Hsuan Hua and a Fox Spirit
When the Master was in Northeast China, there was a very efficacious fox spirit at Baiyun River. It had originally lived in the barracks of the Japanese army. At that time, the Japanese soldiers had captured many Chinese people from unknown places and cruelly fried them alive in oil cauldrons. The fox spirit could not bear to witness such atrocities, so it transformed into an old man with a white beard to lure the Japanese soldiers. When the Japanese, carrying their rifles, chased after him, the old man ran straight into the army’s munitions depot, which then exploded inexplicably. This happened twice. Realizing they were powerless, the Japanese finally withdrew from that place.
After the Japanese left, the fox spirit began to bestow medicine and heal people, manifesting miraculous powers. No matter how far people came from, if they wrapped a bowl in red cloth and knelt to pray at that place, medicine or pills would appear in the bowl. Whatever medicine one asked for, it would be there. Its efficacy was extraordinary, and people from a thousand li around came to seek cures.
At that time, the Master had not yet left the home-life. His mother fell ill, and being deeply filial, he took her to that place to seek medicine. He knelt devoutly for three days and three nights, but when he opened the red cloth, there was never any medicine. So he gave up, relying instead on the little Chinese medicine he had studied, and went to an herbal pharmacy to buy medicine for his mother. Not long afterward, the Master left the home-life.
Later, this fox spirit possessed one of the Master’s relatives and requested to take refuge with the Master. The Master asked who it was, and the spirit replied that it was the fox spirit from Baiyun River who had bestowed medicine to people. The Master said:
“When you were bestowing medicine before, I came to you seeking medicine for my mother. Why did you not give me any then? And now you still wish to take refuge with me?”
The fox spirit answered:
“At that time, when you were kneeling there, all I could see was a golden radiance. I could not see anything else, so I had no way to give you medicine.”
From then on, the Master gained yet another disciple—a fox spirit.
Adapted from the Dharma Realm Buddhist Association, “A Hero Emerges from the White Mountains and Black Waters: The Life of Venerable Master Hsuan Hua.”
“We have toiled for one or two hundred years before we could first take on human form. You, however, are already in human form, and thus more than half the work is accomplished. Yet you drift through life aimlessly, decaying like grass and trees—how lamentable that is.”
— As recorded by Ji Xiaolan, quoting what an old fox once said to men.