As you walk the path of today, what is the most suitable kind of pursuit? In your pursuit, what kind of person should you see yourself as? It behooves you to get to know how you should approach all that befalls you today, be it trials or hardships, or merciless chastisement and cursing. Faced with all of these things, you should reflect carefully on them in every case. Why do I say this? I say it because the things that befall you today are, after all, trials of brief duration that occur over and over again; perhaps as far as you are concerned, they are not especially taxing to the spirit, and so you let things drift along their natural course, and do not regard them as a precious asset in the pursuit of progress. How thoughtless you are! So much so that you think of this precious asset as though it were a cloud floating before your eyes, and you do not treasure these harsh blows that rain down time and again—blows that are brief and that seem to you of little weight—but rather look upon them with cold detachment, not taking them to heart, and treat them merely as a chance blow. You are so arrogant! Toward these ferocious attacks, attacks akin to storms, that come time and time again, you show only flippant disregard; sometimes you even go so far as to give a cold smile, revealing an expression of total indifference—for you have never once thought to yourself why you keep suffering such “misfortunes.” Could it be that I am grossly unfair to man? Do I make it My business to find fault with you? Even though the problems with your mentality may not be as serious as I have described, you have, through your outward composure, long since painted a perfect portrait of your inner world. There is no need for Me to tell you that the only things hidden in the depths of your heart are unreasonable words of abuse and faint traces of sadness that are barely discernible to others. Because you feel it so unfair to have suffered such trials, you curse; and because these trials make you feel the desolation of the world, you are filled with melancholy. Far from viewing these repeated blows and acts of discipline as the very best protection, you see them as the senseless trouble-making of Heaven, or else as fitting retribution upon you. You are so ignorant! You mercilessly confine the good times in the darkness; time after time, you view wonderful trials and acts of discipline as attacks from your enemies. You do not know how to adapt to your environment, and you are even less willing to try to do so, for you are unwilling to gain anything from this repeated—and, to you, cruel—chastisement. You make no attempt either to search or to explore, and, simply resigning yourself to your fate, go wherever it leads you. What may seem to you to be savage acts of chastening have not changed your heart, nor have they taken over your heart; instead, they stab you in the heart. You see this “cruel chastisement” only as your enemy in this life, and so you have gained nothing. You are so self-righteous! Seldom do you believe that you suffer such trials on account of your own contemptibility; instead, you regard yourself as unfortunate, saying moreover that I am always finding fault with you. And now that things have arrived at this pass, how much do you really know about what I say and do? Do not think that you are a natural-born prodigy, only slightly lower than the heavens but infinitely higher than the earth. You are far from being smarter than anyone else—and, it could even be said that it is simply adorable how much sillier you are than any of the people on earth who are possessed of reason, for you think too highly of yourself, and have never had a sense of inferiority, as if you can see through My actions down to the tiniest detail. In point of fact, you are someone who is fundamentally lacking in reason, because you have no idea of what I intend to do, and you are even less aware of what I am doing now. And so I say that you are not even the equal of an old farmer toiling on the land, a farmer who has not the faintest perception of human life and yet puts all his reliance on the blessings of Heaven as he cultivates the land. You do not spare a second’s thought to your life, you know nothing of renown, and still less do you have any self-knowledge. You are so “above it all”! Truly, I worry for you dandyish fops and you dainty young demoiselles: How will you be able to stand up to the onslaught of even bigger tempests? These fops are utterly indifferent to the predicament in which they find themselves. To them, this appears to be a trivial matter, and so they think nothing of it, neither feeling negative nor thinking themselves lowly; instead, they go on, as before, swanning about in the streets wafting their fans. These “people of note,” who do not learn and remain ignorant, have no idea why on earth I would say such things to them; their faces filled with annoyance, they merely give themselves a casual inspection, and afterward carry on without changing their evil ways; once they leave Me, they again start running amok in the world, swaggering and swindling anew. How quickly the expression on your face changes. So, once again, you are trying to deceive Me in this way—how bold you are! Those dainty little demoiselles are even more ludicrous. Hearing My urgent utterances, and seeing the predicament they are in, tears come streaming down their faces unbidden, their bodies writhe back and forth, and they seem to be making a scene—how revolting! Realizing their own stature, they flop onto their beds and lie there, weeping without cease, almost as if they are at their last gasp. And, when these words have shown them their own childishness and lowliness, afterward they become so weighed down by negativity that the light goes out from their eyes and, neither complaining about Me nor hating Me, they become completely immobile in their negativity and likewise they fail to learn and remain ignorant. After leaving Me, they frolic and play about, their pealing laughter like that of “Princess Silver Bell.” How fragile and lacking in self-love they are! All of you, the defective rejects of humankind—how lacking in humanity you are! You do not know how to love yourselves, or how to protect yourselves, you have no sense, you do not seek the true way, you do not love the true light, and, what is more, you do not know how to cherish yourselves. As for the teachings that I have given you, over and over again, you have long since relegated them to the back of your mind, even to the point of treating them like playthings to beguile your idle moments. All of these you always regard in the light of your own personal “talisman.” When accused by Satan, you pray; when negative, you fall into a deep sleep; when happy, you run about wildly; when I rebuke you, you bow and scrape; and then, as soon as you go forth from My presence, you laugh with malevolent glee. You feel yourself to be above all others, but you never see yourself as being the most arrogant, and are only ever lofty, complacent and haughty beyond words. How could such “young gentlemen,” “young misses,” “milords” and “miladies,” who do not learn and remain ignorant, regard My words as a precious treasure? I ask you again: Just what have you learned from My words and My work over such a long time? Is it that you have gained greater skills in your deception? Or greater sophistication in your flesh? Or greater disrespect in your attitude toward Me? I tell you straight: It is all this work I have done that has made you, who used to have the courage of a mouse, grow bolder. The trepidation you feel toward Me lessens with each passing day, for I am too merciful, and have never imposed sanctions upon your flesh by means of violence. Perhaps, as you see it, I am merely speaking harsh words—but it is much more often the case that I show you a smiling countenance, and I almost never censure you to your face. Moreover, I am ever forgiving of your weakness, and it is entirely because of this that you treat Me as the snake treated the kindly farmer. How I admire the extreme degree of skill and perspicacity in the observational powers of the human race! Let Me tell you one truth: Today it matters very little whether or not you have a heart of fear; I am neither anxious nor worried about that. But I must also tell you this: You, this “person of talent,” who do not learn and remain ignorant, will ultimately be brought down by your self-admiring, petty cleverness—you will be the one who suffers and is chastised. I will not be so stupid as to accompany you as you continue to suffer in hell, for I am not the same kind as you. Do not forget that you are a created being that has been cursed by Me, and yet is also taught and saved by Me, and there is nothing in you that I would be reluctant to part with. At whatever time I do My work, I am never constrained by any person, occurrence, or object. My attitude and My view vis-à-vis mankind have always remained the same. I am not particularly well disposed toward you, because you are an appendage to My management, and far from being more special than any other being. This is My advice to you: You must remember, at all times, that you are nothing more than a created being! Although you may share your existence with Me, you should know your own identity; do not think too highly of yourself. Even if I do not rebuke you, or prune you, but greet you with a smiling face, this is not enough to prove that you are of the same kind as Me. You—you should know yourself to be one who pursues the truth, not the truth itself! You must at all times be ready to change in accordance with My word. You cannot escape this. I urge you, during this precious time, when you have this rare opportunity, to try and learn something. Do not fool Me; I do not need you to use flattery to try and deceive Me. When you seek Me, it is not entirely for My sake, but rather for your own!