The three of them did not know each other, but they had the opportunity to be reborn together, and in order not to be lost in the red dust, the monk Shi Shentong retained the memories of the three people's past lives. When the three of them meet again in different identities in the world, what kind of mood is it? Wu Chichang, a scholar of the Qing Dynasty, told such a story in the "A Certain Lang Zhong" chapter of "The Gossip of the Renewal Window".
A certain Langzhong was a native of Wulin (present-day Hangzhou) and could remember the events of his previous life. He said that in his previous life, he was a talented man in Suzhou, from a poor family, teaching to make a living, earning only for the husband and wife, and by the age of sixty, he had no children. Because the family was poor, the bones of three generations from the great-grandfather to the parents were not buried. Every time he thought of this, Lao Xiucai always deeply blamed himself, so every night he lit a piece of incense and knelt down to pray to the heavens, willing to reduce his life expectancy as a price, in exchange for a hundred taels of silver to bury his ancestors, so that death was also blinding. Lao Xiu insisted on praying for five or six years, and he could not achieve his wish until his death.
After Lao Xiucai died, his soul came to the mansion to meet the King of Yan. The king of Yama said, "You are a filial son, and you are willing to reduce your life expectancy to bury your ancestors." But your parents had so much bad karma in their lifetime that they never died. Although you are sincere and sincere to your ancestors, your life is nothing but peace and self-preservation, and there is no great merit, which is not enough to restore the creation, but your filial piety is respectable. Then give him a seat. At this time, the ghost officials under the king of Yama came to report that the great filial piety had arrived, and the king of Yama immediately ordered someone to open the main entrance of the main hall to greet him. I saw a beggar dressed in quail, with hair more than a foot long, a thin face, and a body drenched in water. When the beggar saw Yama kneeling, Yama asked him to get up and sit down. The seat is above Xiucai.
The king of Yama praised the beggar, which made the beggar very uneasy. Xiucai was also very confused, and Yan Wang turned to Xiucai and said, "Do you have any doubts in your heart?" This man was a native of Zhenjiang, born in a poor family, who had lost his father since childhood, and his mother took him with him to beg. When he was seven or eight years old, he knelt on the street every day to beg for food to support his mother, and so on for seven or eight years. When his mother could not walk, he begged behind her back, and each time he begged for food, he had to let his mother eat it himself. After more than ten years of this, his mother fell ill and died, and he asked for a reed mat to bury his mother simply, and then threw herself into the river and died. His whole life was devoted to filial piety and had no other ideas. Isn't it enough to move the gods when filial piety comes first, but such an inferior person has done such a great thing? ”
While he was talking, suddenly the red light shone brightly, the clouds were colorful, and the ghosts and pawns in the hall fell to their knees. The judge came and reported, "The holy monk has come. "I saw five-colored auspicious clouds descending from the sky, and in the clouds stood a big fat monk. The monk smiled and said, "The old monk has to live from the King of Yama when he is practicing, and he doesn't know which day he will be able to cultivate the right results and go to the Western Heavens." King Yama said respectfully, "The holy monk is a person with a great foundation, and the date of enlightenment will not be very far away." The monk said, "I'm worried about falling red dust!" The king of Yama immediately ordered a seat to be set up in front of the hall and to stand next to him. It wasn't until the monk asked Yama to sit down that Yama sat respectfully.
At that time, Xiucai and the beggar had already taken refuge in the hall, and the monk looked at the group of ghosts one by one, and then pointed at Xiucai and the beggar and said, "These are two filial pieties, please come out and meet each other." The two men worshiped the monk, and after the monk returned the salute, the two sat down, and the ghost served tea. The monk said, "When you drink this tea, you will forget your past life, and if you don't drink it, you will violate the rules of heaven, and the old monk will ask to dissolve it for them." Then let the two of them bring the tea to the seat, and the monk chanted a mantra to the two cups of tea, and the tea disappeared. The monk raised a glass to Yama and said, "It has been drunk." Yama nodded respectfully in reply. At this time the judge stepped forward and said, "The auspicious time for the holy monk to descend has arrived, please ascend immediately." Only to see the ghosts and pawns erect a long ladder, the monk ascended the ladder, and then turned back to the two and said, "We have a fate, just come with me!" The king of Yama ordered the judge to write a book and let the two accompany them. The monk was in front, the beggar was in the middle, Xiucai then, climbed hundreds of levels, Xiucai felt that he had no strength, fell down, and then opened his eyes, and had become a baby.
Only to hear the parents say with joy that they have given birth to a boy. Xiucai wanted to speak but couldn't say it, and could only cry and laugh. At the age of three, the fontanelle on the top of his head was closed before he could speak, and he remembered the events of his previous life. Knowing that the ghost god respects filial piety, so every move is to obey the teachings of his parents, there is no disobedience, and his parents love it like a treasure, because the books they read in their previous lives do not forget a word, at the age of thirteen, they were admitted to Xiucai, and at the age of seventeen, they became a jinshi and were awarded the title of head of the ceremonial department. After the death of his parents, he kept filial piety for three years, married his wife and had children at the age of twenty, and then entered Beijing again.
At the beginning of a certain year, in a great dynasty, the chief minister accompanied the class to complete the ceremony, and the emperor retired from the palace. A eunuch stepped forward, asked the chief minister for his name and official position, and said, "A certain prince has a life, and he asks the chief prince to enter the palace tonight." "After saying that, give him a tooth tag." That night, Xiucai's reincarnated master went to the prince's mansion with a tooth card and saw wang ye, who looked like the big fat monk seen in the mansion. Wang Ye greeted him with a smile and said, "Do you remember what happened before?" The master fell to his knees and said, "Don't dare to forget your great kindness!" ”
After taking a seat, Wang Ye said, "Today I saw you from afar in the hall, and I saw that you were still the same as you were, so I asked you to tell the story of the past." You are now in your career, but the world is disturbed, even if you practice happiness. I don't eat meat in this life, this is all left over from the work of previous lives, this life can only be silently observed, these can not let my parents know, but even so I am always worried about falling into the red dust, do not dare to have a little delusion, now think about it, why don't you abandon the official and enter the Dao? ”
The principal said, "I think so too, but the child is still young, and it is really difficult to put it down." Wang Ye said, "It's not difficult, do you remember that beggar filial piety?" He'll come and help you, but don't bring it up to outsiders, just wait for the right moment. The master was ready to retreat, and Wang Ye once again instructed: "After you go, you don't have to come back, the cultivation of the mind is the most important, there is no need to give more instructions." "The Principal came out in thanks.
Soon, the Ryukyu Kingdom (present-day Ben Okinawa) paid tribute and was enlisted, and the emperor sent a minister to be a messenger to appease him. After a few days of sailing at sea, when the master arrived in Ryukyu, the king received him solemnly, only to see the king of Ryukyu with loose hair, a thin face, and a bit of a beggar appearance from a previous life. After all the ceremonies, the king took the chief's hand and said, Do you still know the? The two laughed. The chief said, "The filial piety of the great king touched the heavens, and today as the lord of a country, I am really insignificant compared with the great king!" The king said, "You don't have to be modest as an emissary of the Heavenly Dynasty, I still have things to entrust." "When the master left, the king of Ryukyu gave him ten thousand taels of gold and asked him to rebury his mother in his previous life, and the rest of the gold was left to the master.
After the completion of the matter, the principal promoted Langzhong to reward his labor. Went to visit Wang Ye, who had passed away. Lang Zhong felt that the world was like a dream, so he resigned his official position and returned to Zhenjiang. He fulfilled the Ryukyu King's instructions and reburied the Ryukyu King's mother in his previous life. Remembering that the coffins of three generations of relatives in the family had not yet been buried, and they had returned to the place where they lived in the previous life, the old wife had long since passed away, and there were eight coffins in the broken house, and he was buried one by one. Give the rest of the gold to the wife of this world to raise the children, and then find a temple for herself to practice.
Qian Qi said: Because people only know this life, their whole life is muddy. If you know the past life and this life, taste the bittersweet and bittersweet of the world, where is the meaning of life, if you don't hurry into the empty door, where do you want to go?
I think it is still wang ye's saying that cultivating the mind is the most important, no matter where you are, what class you are, if you can always work your mental nature, you can understand the meaning of life.
bibliography:
[Qing] Wu Chichang: "Continuation Window Gossip", volume IV