Cai Gen Tan is a very philosophical book that covers all aspects of Chinese philosophy of life. If you can read it, then it will bring you a steady stream of wisdom crystallization. Today I would like to share two stories:
First, if you want to do things on the road, you should not enjoy it and let it go deep into wanling; if you want to do things on the road, you will not worry about the difficulties and retreat slightly, and once you retreat, you will be far away from a thousand mountains.
The meaning of this sentence is: With regard to matters of desire, we must never covet cheapness, but unjustly take advantage of our own, and once we covet non-divided pleasures, we will fall into the abyss; with regard to matters of truth, we must never have the idea of retreating out of fear of difficulties, because once we withdraw, we will lose our arms with the truth and justice.
Storytelling:
Once upon a time, two very good people decided to make a pilgrimage to the distant holy mountain together. The two men carried their bags on their backs and went on the road, vowing not to reach the holy mountain to worship and never to return home.
After half a month of walking, they met an elderly white-haired sage. The holy man was very touched to see that two such devout people were going on a pilgrimage to the holy mountain, and he was very touched to tell them: "There are still ten days to go before the holy mountain from here, but unfortunately I am going to break up with you at this crossroads." Before the breakup, I can grant your wish, as long as one of you makes a wish first, his wish will be fulfilled immediately; and the second person can get twice that wish. ”
At this point, one of them thought to himself, "This is great, I already know what I want to make a wish, but I don't want to say it first, because if I make a wish first, he can have double the gift, and I will suffer." And another man thought to himself, "How can I start by letting my friend get a double gift?" So, the two people began to be polite. "Why don't you talk about it first?" You're older, so make a wish first!" No, you should make a wish first!" After the two people "politely" resigned, they began to get impatient, and the atmosphere changed, "What are you doing!" You'll talk about it first!"" Why should I talk about it first? I don't want it!"
The two pushed to the end, and one of them got angry and said loudly: "Hey, you really don't know what to do, if you don't want to, I will break your dog's leg and strangle you to death!"
The other did not expect his friend to change his face and intimidate himself! So I thought, you are so ruthless and unjust, I don't have to be too affectionate and righteous to you! What I can't get, you can't get! So, the man simply turned his heart sideways and said fiercely, "Well, I'll make a wish first!" I hope — one of my eyes — is blind!"
One of the man's eyes was immediately blind, and his good friend who was traveling with him was immediately blind in both eyes!
If you don't want to encounter such a cruel situation, you might as well look at the classics and draw strength:
In this story, it is obviously a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but because of the unwillingness of the other party to be better than themselves, the two sides not only did not gain anything, but lost more. Maybe the white-haired sage simply wanted to test them, and if there was a good thing in heaven that had dropped the pie, if these two people were not confused by desire, they would not have reached this situation.
Second, if the desire for profit is not exhausted, the opinion is the thief of the evil heart; the sound and color may not be the obstacle, and the wisdom is the screen of the obstacle.
This sentence is to tell us that fame and lust do not necessarily hurt ourselves, but self-righteousness, self-righteous clinging to prejudice is the poisonous worm that hurts the soul; sexual beauty does not necessarily hinder a person's morality, and self-cleverness and no one in sight are the obstacles to morality.
Once upon a time there was a stupid man, his wife was clever and clever, the two people began to have a deep relationship, and then his wife had an affair, and when he had an affair, his restless thoughts became more and more intense, and he wanted to abandon his husband and follow his lover.
At this time, she found an old woman and said, "After I left, you found a fake woman's body and put it in my house, and told my husband that I was dead." ”
After she left, the old woman did as she was told, and when her husband returned, he mistakenly thought it was his wife, so he was very bitter and sad, and he cremated his wife.
And his real wife was only a momentary freshness with her lover, and after being with her lover for a long time, she became disgusted and returned to her husband.
She told her husband, "I am your wife." But his husband said, "My wife is already dead, who are you?" Nonsense. The woman explained repeatedly, and her husband did not believe it.
In this story, the wife's practice is very excessive, the organs are exhausted, and finally she has no place to live, but compared with the wife, the husband is extremely stupid. He could not even distinguish between himself and his wife, who was dead, and his stupidity was also sad to deny when he faced his wife.
03
Cai Gen Tan is one of the famous "Three Wonder Books of Dealing with the World", which is a collection of quotations on cultivation, life, life, and birth, which is permeated with the meaning of Zen, hiding the wisdom of the Tao, the righteousness of Confucianism, and after reading it, people's blinded hearts are suddenly enlightened. Whether you want to cultivate yourself, improve your mental character, or promote worldly deeds and treat people in the world, you can find wisdom and mysteries to understand the meaning of life.