Examples Illustrating Empirical Realization

Question: On my birthday, friends came to congratulate me. Friend A gave me 100 yuan, Friend B gave me 100 yuan, and Friend C gave me 50 yuan. I forgot how much money I originally had in my pocket, so I took it out to count. I discovered that after removing the 250 yuan given by others, I originally had no money at all. Does this situation constitute empirical proof that there was originally no money in my pocket?

Answer: This certainly constitutes empirical proof that there was originally no money in one's pocket, because this was personally witnessed with one's own eyes and counted with one's own hands—it is an actual, present-moment observation, a living fact that is absolutely true and undeniable. No one can refute it; one must believe it. It is not obtained through reasoning, imagination, conjecture, or estimation. For another example, when doing business, every evening upon returning home and counting the money, one empirically verifies the amount earned that day. This amount is not estimated, imagined, speculated, or conjured up; it is counted out by hand in tangible reality, witnessed firsthand. This alone is called empirical proof and direct realization; all else is not.