Cultivation isn't a linear path but a mental decision we make and are forced to either make again and again, reaffirming ourselves, or choose differently later, abandoning all the thought that went into it, and the power that came with the faith we had in that decision. Sadly, mental obstructions come with making mental decisions and you can meander back into old inefective, sometimes detrimental, mental patterns. When rerunning an old pattern, that too can be a form of mental decision and thereby cultivation, and whether that means re-entering your old weakness or strengthening yourself through it, it's hard to say. It's also hard to say what constitutes a strong mind or mental strength. Physical strength is objective, but what mentality creates it? these are questions all of us cultivators wonder.
The one thing I've seen us all come to agreement on is the power of learning. In simple terms because I do not wish to rehash what we already know too much: learning leads to power, and the more we know, the more likely we are to be powerful. It is by that reasoning that if conclusions limit learning, it will thereby limit cultivation. in other words, we cannot learn if we already believe ourselves to know the answer.
and because we do believe that conclusions pose a danger, this is why a true master cannot guide their disciple by principles, nor can they hand over their "cultivation manual" simply, because those are only the master's conclusions. In essence, a bad master will hand over their thoughts recklessly, and a bad student will believe unquestioningly. Therefore, a good teacher should be like Socrates and admit they do not know, and like Aristotle, leave the door open to learn more later.
But, faith is a kind of power, and the innocent child who believes recklessly is also powerful. You have heard me say this before but I still believe it to be true, and I can further argue my point despite the recent evidence against it. A child is not limited by what he already knows, and learns endlessly until his amassed bias tells him otherwise. This means he and all innocent children grow powerful quickly, but they have no outlet for that power, and will eventually be limited by what they do learn. In other words, it is not their innocence that limits them but the biases they create through innocence and simplicity.
Now let me address the opposing evidence: there are arguments against this last theory because of the many naiive children joining our sect recently who do not become strong. You can say these chitlings give living anecdotal proof against the theory of innocence because of their limited strength, but let me argue that there are other reasons for their failure to learn better.
You've heard from your newer disciples that "knowledge is power" is a common sense among the populace these days, right? My explanation for the plague of weakness among our disciples is this very thought being passed around recklessly. People are more easily satisfied with smaller amounts of learning because they are recognizing their new strength. this pride, in turn, breeds negligence, which then stops learning. Also, and this might sound like a justification after the fact of our issue, but those children are coming in with bias already in their system!
This process, the reason I believe for the newfound weakness we've been seeing, is a twisted version of the truth of learning. It is being passed down through the children and is taught earlier and earlier: "knowledge is power, knowledge is power, ...", rehashed too many times. Limited potential is common place now because they are making conclusions too early in their development! Their cultivation is not preparing their mind for more, and is instead stopping them in their tracks! Our newest additions to the sect, in other words, have biases and, worse, pride, deep in their bones before we can even reach them with our teachings!
you can ignore this old man speaking, mind you, thinking "he only argues because his days have come and passed." you can say about me "He just feels greedy because his precious 'secret techniques' have become common place and have also proven to be not as effective as others". And you would speak some truth. These facts do not make me happy and such emotions could very well blind my judgement. but these are, all the same, the observations of an old man who has watched this world change before him for a long time. I thank you for letting me begin this meeting, and I ask forgiveness that I used this moment to bring up an argument of my own to start us off. I now hand over the floor for this conference to the sect. let us begin....
saying so, he also thought to himself, "you might also argue that I protect innocence because of a certain young disciple I have picked up recently..." but he remained silent so as to not fall on his sword, figuratively speaking.
- from a recent cultivation conference among a certain sect