Without demons, there are no Buddhas (the Buddha here I call the clay-sculpted Buddha). Suffering is not the demon; the ego-attachment in one's heart is the demon.

Many Buddhist phrases cited here are from the Prajñāpāramitā Hṛdaya Sūtra (Heart Sutra) of Mahayana Buddhism. It is the core tenet of Mahayana Buddhism, teaching people to eliminate ego-attachment (the seventh consciousness, 'I think,' 'I feel,' etc., are all ego-attachment, e.g., I think this stock will rise, that stock will fall), and to cultivate the eighth consciousness, the Ālaya-vijñāna, also known as the Tathāgatagarbha (Buddha-nature). This is also the reason for the emergence of the Tathāgata Buddha (he taught people to cultivate themselves and also placed faith in external deities. Buddhism itself originally had no concept of a Buddha or a soul; it was after entering China and integrating with some Daoist ideas that concepts like the soul and afterlife were produced). This is a misunderstanding by sentient beings. The Tathāgatagarbha is called the seed of all truths, such as the law of universal gravitation, 1+1 equals 2, which can be transmitted between people. Objective laws do not change according to human will. This is the key point cola wants to express.

Cola divides this thinking into two levels, but I have always believed it can actually be divided into a third level.

First level: seeing a mountain as a mountain, seeing water as water.

This is what cola calls 'being attached to appearances.' One's state of mind is disturbed by objective laws.

Second level: seeing a mountain not as a mountain, seeing water not as water.

This is what cola calls 'seeing through the essence of some things,' such as the law of universal gravitation. Knowing an apple falls due to gravity, not because of personal will.

Third level: seeing a mountain still as a mountain, seeing water still as water.

Having understood objective laws, the mind is free from hindrances, no longer constrained by objective laws or disturbed by emotions. Instead, one applies and responds to objective laws, viewing problems from the opposite perspective. Oneself can be the mountain, the water, or a stone by the roadside. Then there is no origin for emotions. One views and understands the world more objectively.

Just as the Buddhist theory of karma primarily hopes to explain a great cause and effect, not a small one, it is like this.