Many years later, I dare to admit one thing. Traders are actually a dual existence of Buddha and demon. Half of you is practicing enlightenment, and the other half is struggling within desire. During the day, you tell yourself to be disciplined, to follow the trend, to control your positions... But late at night, you can't help but fantasize. If you catch this one move, maybe everything will change. In a moment of thought, there is Buddha. In a moment of thought, there is also demon.

The real torment in trading has never been the market itself, but the sight of two selves within the same body. One self is very clear-headed. It knows that trends require patience, that positions need to be controlled, and that the market won't change direction because of your anxiety. The other self, however, is like fire. It longs to recover losses, to prove itself, to turn the tide in a single fluctuation. So every day, you experience an internal war. Sometimes you win. You resist the impulse, watch the trend unfold, and feel at peace. Sometimes the demon wins. You enter early, hold heavy positions, delay stop-losses, and afterward, you clearly realize you're not really trading—you’re being driven by desire.

Livermore's life was marked by great ups and downs. In his youth, he was like a sharp blade, daring to bet big, daring to be lonely, daring to challenge the market. But in his later years, he became increasingly silent. Many say that was aging. But I increasingly feel it was a form of restraint after seeing through everything. When a person truly passes through the deep waters of the market, they gradually understand that trading is not about defeating others, but about learning to manage the demon within themselves.

Trend is not difficult; what’s hard is the long wait before the trend arrives. Opportunity is not difficult; what’s hard is not acting in that moment when desire surges. A master is not someone without demons, but someone who knows: the demon has always been there, it’s just that you no longer obey its commands.

Buddha is clarity. Demon is desire.

Clarity tells you: the market is always right. Desire whispers in your ear: maybe this time, you can be an exception. That’s why traders repeatedly experience this state. You think you’ve understood, but with the next pullback, you’re thrown back to the beginning. This is not failure. It’s cultivation. Every impulsive act seen, every desire uncovered, makes the voice of the “Buddha” inside you grow a little louder.

Later, I wrote a phrase for myself: Don’t try to eliminate the demon. Just don’t let it place your trades. Cultivation doesn’t mean no desire. Cultivation means that when desire appears, you can still put your hands back on the keyboard. At that moment, you’ve already won. Not winning the market, but winning yourself.

Many people think trading is a skill. Only those who have walked the path understand it’s a journey of the mind. Charts are just appearances; the real battlefield is inside your heart. So I want to ask you: when you’re about to press the trade button, what do you hear? Buddha, or demon?