How to handle the various contradictions between practicing martial arts and one's career in life

Teacher Kong De: Hello. The disciple has long been yearning for the Great Way, but due to his limited wisdom and virtue, he has no idea of the root of the Great Way and the true essence of immortality. For nearly three decades, he has wasted his time and is still trapped in hardship, unable to extricate himself. The essence of immortality lies in "exploring the truth to the fullest extent of one's nature and reaching one's destiny." In fact, nothing is more important than reading books. However, most of the books that exist today were written before the Qing Dynasty. The ancient morality, ethics, values, etc., are no longer entirely suitable for today's society, and there seems to be a sense of confusion in today's world. The following is unclear. Please kindly ask for your guidance, teacher. One should not act like a self-defeating Han. Instead, one should make some contributions to the country and the nation, do one's bit for society and fulfill one's responsibility as an ordinary person, so that the Chinese nation will no longer be invaded or humiliated. However, human life is hard to come by, and it is difficult to be born in adversity. Though my roots are dull and my body is exposed, I wish to continue the unparalleled learning of the sages of the past. Now that I am plagued by illness, whenever I recall the saying "Hurry up and practice Judea", I don't know what to do. If it weren't for the fear of death, how could one be as light as a feather? "How could there be a million spacious houses?" I want to achieve success and fame at the same time, and at the same time, I want to become an immortal on land. I want to achieve nothing. Lu Zu called him a greedy and foolish man. How can one be a two-headed snake in life? Although there are ways to cultivate otherworldly methods from worldly ones, due to my limited knowledge, I sincerely hope that the teacher can offer me some guidance. Teacher Kong De replied: The great significance of the way of immortality lies in setting an example and demonstration of a great achievement in life science for the general public through the personal practice and extraordinary gains of the experimenters. This is the most positive social significance it objectively reflects! Since ancient times, the term "self-disciplined Han" that people have regarded and criticized usually refers to those who are unwilling to take on any social or family responsibilities and obligations, are dedicated to life cultivation and experimentation, and are completely isolated from society. But I think we should make differentiated comments on people like "self-disciplined". Throughout history, there have been some self-reliant men. Once they thought they had seen through the world, they could leave their hometowns and go to temples to become monks or venture deep into the mountains and forests to practice alchemy, disregarding their elderly parents, wives and children to support and take care of, as well as their existing jobs in certain industries and the cultural and technological knowledge they had just learned at the calligraphy school. The running away from home of such people can cause great trauma or even disaster to their families, and also bring certain losses to society. For instance, his departure immediately caused financial difficulties for the family and led to their breakdown. Causing psychological trauma to loved ones, leading to illness or other dangers, etc. : If he has received school education, it will also result in the waste and loss of educational investment. Therefore, such rebels should be condemned. Even if such people can live to be ten thousand years old, in terms of their life value, it is meaningless. They are nothing more than a long-lived turtle surviving. However, there is another group of people who are also unwilling to take on any social or family responsibilities and obligations. But they are very good at handling affairs, that is, they do not cause any adverse impact on society or their original families from beginning to end, and thus avoid the world to cultivate themselves, benefiting themselves without harming others, and being selfish without harming the public. Such people are determined by their different values in life. I think we can choose not to live this way or adopt this concept of life, but we don't necessarily have to curse such people. Because, as long as they do no harm to society, they should have the right and way to live. It must be pointed out that what has always been advocated by the orthodox school of immortals is that one must never act like a traitor to the Han Dynasty. The Great Way Immortal Studies advocate that one should first fulfill the human way and then complete the immortal way, and first enter the human world and then transcend it. Even if one cultivates to immortality, they still need to complete the prescribed thousands of great merits and virtues in the human world before they can be included in the ranks of immortals. However, there is one characteristic of the way of immortality that must be clear: although it must first fulfill the human nature and the human world, it will never dedicate its entire life when fulfilling the human nature and engaging in the human world. This means that for a practitioner of immortals to fulfill their duties in the human world, the prerequisite is not to dedicate their entire life. Their principle is "benefiting others without harming oneself", which is their most distinctive feature. This is precisely the difference in the judgment of life values between immortals and Confucians. If immortals must adhere to the Confucian creed of "sacrificing one's life for benevolence" to fulfill their humanitarian duties and engage in the world, then immortals would not and could not become immortals. Therefore, immortals can neither be self-reliant men nor be two-headed snakes. So if someone were to ask - in fact, you, Xiaoma, have already raised such a question: How can one serve the country and the nation without causing any harm to one's life? This conclusion was recorded by Laozi as early as two or three thousand years ago: "It is said that those who are good at nurturing life do not encounter 兕 tigers when traveling on land, nor are they attacked by armed soldiers when entering the army. Youdaoplaceholder1 have no horns to throw at, tigers have no claws to throw at, and soldiers have no blades to tolerate." Why? Because it has no death." However, the specific methods vary from person to person, from time to time, and from situation to situation. Only the cultivator can seek them from the principles of the great way, but there is no comfortable bed to lay out.