Human beings originally have three forms of existence. The first one in Heaven, the second on Earth and the third in Hell. Hence at any one time our True Selves exist either in Heaven, Earth or Hell. These three existences are similar to water, steam and ice. They are one and the same. On Earth we have forms, that is the human body or any other living beings bodies but in Heaven and Hell, it is formless.

There are three natures in a human. The divine, human and animal nature. The divine nature is the essence of Tao as well as the soul of a human. It is all good and has no evil. The human nature is sometimes pure and sometimes contaminated and therefore can be good or evil. The animal nature is all of desires for materialism and all evils without any goodness.

If one's divine nature dominates, he will act in accordance with the five virtues of Tao. Everything he does will always conform to the "center and harmony" or righteousness. If his human nature dominates, he may be good sometimes and evil at other times. If his animal nature dominates, he will be deeply pulled by materialism and the consequence is that his temperament is almost all evil and hardly any good.

In summary, he who overcomes emotions and desires, and restores his True Self becomes a Saint or a Sage. He who cannot overcome emotions and desires will never be able to free his divine nature from inhibition and becomes the ordinary. For example, a mirror itself is clear when it is first made. As the mirror sits, dust is collected on the mirror. If the dust is not wiped off, the mirror cannot be cleared. A man's True Self is the mirror, and the dust is emotions and desires.