Does Master Ji Gong’s freedom mean anything goes?

Master Ji Gong’s ease is not carelessness, indulgence or exemption from responsibility. The Ji Gong I encounter at Sheng Zhen Men brings joy and also reminds people to face their problems. Humor helps people relax and hear principles; laughter does not remove the work. Early on I more often received the Three Saints Who Subdue Demons. Recording that program, I recalled Master Ji Gong coming more frequently over the preceding year. That described that year, not every future descent.

Folk images often show him drinking and acting eccentrically, whereas his expression at Sheng Zhen Men is more mature and steady. Perhaps this relates to the medium’s condition, since I do not drink, or perhaps contemporary teaching does not always require drunkenness or feigned madness. I understand the spirit through “everyone is drunk, I alone am awake”: seeing clearly and teaching skillfully, not drinking more to resemble Ji Gong. This is our experience, not a claim other systems are false. Nor can drunken mistakes or arbitrary demands for offerings prove divine descent.

Miao Li said the Master Ji Gong she knows emphasizes releasing attachments, happiness and wisdom. I also do not believe he would humiliate a woman for not having a son. In our understanding, boys and girls form a natural yin-yang balance, without needing preference for sons. Asking a deity to mediate parent-child communication aims at mutual understanding. It must not be confused with calling someone deserving of a beating in a deity’s name.

Folk traditions have included flower-exchanging rites intended to alter whether a child is a boy or girl. Sheng Zhen Men’s attitude is to let nature take its course without deliberately demanding it. I mentioned a friend not wanting advance knowledge of a baby’s sex. That was a personal observation, not advice against prenatal checks. Remarks then about doctors disclosing sex were not current medical policy. The point is accepting the child while maintaining prenatal care.

I like his reminder to compare today with yesterday’s self. Improvement is improvement. Moving from thirty to thirty-five points should not have all effort dismissed simply because it falls short of someone else’s standard. People also face different financial and everyday difficulties. One story cannot mean copying it guarantees money. Learning ease means less attachment and comparison while still working earnestly.

At one school anniversary, my daughter shared that Master Ji Gong compared a busy elder with stiff shoulders and neck to a stone person. He acknowledged her hard work and reminded her to exercise and practice qi despite busyness, hoping she would be as soft as SpongeBob next time. This was religious interaction and metaphor during an event, expressing concern, not a medical diagnosis of shoulder or neck problems.

I admire his ability to explain principles in ways children and elders respectively understand and accept. What looks like play also answers questions and offers affirmation and reminders. Learning that humor therefore includes empathy, not merely remembering jokes.

Ethics and boundaries cannot be discarded. I directly used the example of feigning drunken madness to touch female believers inappropriately or make unsuitable remarks as a deity. “Ji Gong is like that” cannot excuse it. Humans need basic respect; learning from a deity means attending to admirable virtue, not only outward eccentricity.

When introducing Ji Gong’s stories, I distinguish the historical person from novels, plays and folk faith. Flying Peak and timber transported through an ancient well are transmitted stories. Their vividness does not establish that every detail has been historically verified.

The Master Ji Gong encountered at Sheng Zhen Men does not ordinarily express himself through drinking. I have also said that small amounts in some social situations might serve communication with people. Skillful means and purpose matter, not imposing “all Ji Gong manifestations must drink” or “none may ever drink.”

Therefore, quoting only “wine and meat pass through the intestines” cannot justify indulgence. Understand what the story conveys about the heart and freedom, while recognizing that different practices have their own rules and disciplines.