If you don't want liberation, don't study Buddhism.

 　　If you don't want liberation, just live a normal worldly life; don't study Buddhism. Studying Buddhism is dangerous.

　　First, we are now in the Dharma-ending Age, and the probability of encountering false teachers is very high. One wrong thought can send you to hell. Intentionally or unintentionally, you can influence others with wrong views, and due to the influence of false teachers, you will become more depraved and indulgent, even to the point of cheating, deceiving, raping, and kidnapping. A whole series of people will go to the Avici Hell, and without right knowledge and right views, it will be very difficult to get out.

　　Second, some lay Buddhists study Buddhism to cure their illnesses. After they get better, they think that Buddhism is omnipotent, so they start to take on other people's karma. When family and friends have any troubles in life, they recite scriptures and mantras to dedicate the merits to them. This can solve some problems, but it is actually using your own mental energy, which can easily lead to serious illness or even death. There are examples of this. We are still ordinary people; even the Buddha himself did not dare to work so hard.

　　Third, it is easy to be possessed and used by ghosts and spirits because of attachment to supernatural powers. Witchcraft culture has quietly flourished in China. Ghosts and spirits possess minor supernatural powers, which we cannot perceive due to our lack of spiritual connection. These spirits are greedy, and if you cease offerings, they will harm you. Since the enemy is in the shadows while you are in the light, you are powerless to defend yourself. The communication between humans and ghosts has been severed since the time of Emperor Zhuanxu, and orthodox culture has always been wary of witchcraft and similar practices. However, superstition has always been prevalent, and many people controlled by ghosts use the name of Buddhism to deceive others. Some lay practitioners suffer from auditory and visual hallucinations, develop mental problems, yet still believe they have achieved enlightenment and possess supernatural powers. Behind their attachment to supernatural abilities lies a desire to control their own lives, a belief that some power can grant them special rights—a truly tragic situation.

　　Fourthly, some lay practitioners, in their pursuit of good deeds and merit, squander their wealth, abandon their families, and become intoxicated by the reputation of bodhisattvas, exhausting themselves to the point of illness and even death. Buddhist scriptures clearly state that Shakyamuni Buddha, through countless eons of generosity and offerings to so many Buddhas, did not receive any predictions of Buddhahood; doing good deeds is merely creating karmic connections.

　　Besides these, countless other strange phenomena exist. The Dharma is rare and precious. You've cultivated so much good karma to encounter it, only to have it harm you like this? Wake up! First, complete the great task of transcending birth and death. Whether you've made progress or not is obvious; you know clearly how much you still can't let go of.