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The Second Method of Reform
Liaofan Four Lessons (in the vernacular)
( Principles and methods of transforming destiny )
Original author: Mr. Yuan Liaofan of the Ming Dynasty
The second method of reform
1. Changed three elements
In the Spring and Autumn Period, senior officials of various countries often judged a person’s good or bad fortune from his words and actions, and none of them were ineffective.
Generally speaking, the omens of good and bad fortune are first produced in the human heart, and then manifested in the whole body and limbs. For example, a benevolent and kind person must behave calmly in his body and limbs; person will behave frivolously in his behavior. If a person is kind, he will always be blessed; if he is mean, he will be near disaster. There is absolutely no such thing as uncertain or unfathomable.
The good and evil of a human nature must interact with the heavenly heart. The approaching blessing can be judged from the person’s peaceful state of mind and peaceful attitude. The imminent misfortune can also be found from the surly behavior of the person.If people want to gain blessings and avoid disasters, they can do good deeds first, as long as they try their best to correct their mistakes, they will naturally become good.
As for the method of reformation, the first thing is to show “shame”. Just think about it, the ancient sages and sages are human beings just like us, so why can they be famous through the ages, but we are unknown or even ruined?
Because most people are only greedy for sensitivity, fame and wealth, wantonly, doing some shady things behind other people’s backs, thinking that others can’t see them, and complacent, they will gradually become beasts in clothes and clothes without knowing it There is nothing more shameful and shameful in the world. Mencius also said that knowing shame is very important. Those who can know shame are sages, but those who don’t know what shame is are like beasts.
The second way to reform is to have “awe”. Don’t think that in a place where no one is in the dark room, you will be invisible. It should be known that the heaven, earth, ghosts and gods are all above our heads. The ghosts and gods of heaven and earth know everything we do and think in our hearts every day. Even if you can fool others, you can’t fool yourself. Moreover, he kept it secret, and if someone saw through it one day, his personality would go bankrupt and he would be worthless. Therefore, if the fault is serious, all kinds of disasters will come to you; even if the fault is light, the existing blessings will also be reduced . not always have a heart of vigilance and fear?
This is not the only thing mentioned above. As long as a person has one breath, even if he commits a heinous crime, he can still repent and repent. In ancient times, there was a person who spent his whole life doing evil and evil. When he was about to die, because he repented and awakened in time, he sent out great kind thoughts, so he also got a good death. That is to say, if you send out a heartfelt and brave kind thought when you correct your mistakes, you can also wash away the sins accumulated over a hundred years.
For example, in a valley that has been dark for thousands of years, as long as a lamp enters and illuminates it, the darkness for thousands of years can be cleared immediately. Therefore, no matter how big or small the fault is, or how long it lasts, as long as one knows the fault and can correct it, it is remarkable and commendable.
Life is impermanent, and the body is perishable. If the breath stops, it is impossible to change the soul even if it wants to. Some people will sink into hell and be tortured forever, and even gods, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas cannot save them. The matter of transcendence depends on one’s own will. Once impermanence passes away, when will you be reborn as a human being? How can you not be afraid of deep thinking at night?
Third, we must have a “courageous heart” to move forward. The reason why a person has made a mistake and refuses to correct it is because he is muddling along, unable to cheer up, and retreats and flinches. It is important to know that you must work hard to correct your mistakes, and correct now, without delay and doubt; you don’t have to wait for tomorrow today, and the day after tomorrow.
Small mistakes are like sharp thorns in the flesh, which should be pulled out quickly. A big mistake is as severe as a poisonous snake biting a finger. You must cut off your finger immediately without any hesitation or delay. Just like the Yi hexagram in the Book of Changes, when the wind blows and thunder moves, everything grows, and the benefits are so great. If a person has the three hearts of shame, fear, and courage mentioned above, then he can correct his mistakes immediately. Knowing mistakes and changing them is like spring in ice, it will disappear and disintegrate.
2. the three stages of change
Ordinary people reform, there are three stages of reforming in practice, reforming in theory, and reforming in the heart. The effects of different methods are also different.
For example, killing animals the day before yesterday, refraining from killing today. The day before yesterday, I was furious, but today I meditate and reflect. This is to improve through practice, but it is a hundred times more difficult than to change naturally. And the root of the disease has not been removed, it is still in the heart. Although it was barely suppressed for a while, it still had to be exposed. It was wiped out in the east and reappeared in the west. After all, this is not the way to completely eradicate it.
The ideal way to reform should be to reform theoretically. For example, if you want to correct the mistake of killing, you should think that “heaven has the virtue of loving life”. All living things cherish life, love life and fear death.
But now we want to kill its life to satisfy our petty appetite, so we ask ourselves, how can we feel at ease? The panic and pain at the time of being slaughtered, coupled with the pain of the deep water and hot boiler, must be painful and resentful. How many lives were sacrificed for a meal of delicacies? But after eating, isn’t the stomach empty? Vegetables, fruits and vegetables can also support life, but will one’s stomach be turned into a corpse ground to compromise one’s blessings?
Think again that all flesh and blood life must have spirituality and have the same body as human beings. I have not been able to cultivate great virtue, so that they come to respect me and kiss me, it is gradually ashamed. [Like Da Shun, when he was farming, the elephant helped him plow the field, and the bird helped him pull the weeds. ] How can they hurt lives every day and make them hate me endlessly? If you can think of this principle, you will see things with pity, and you will not be able to do it.
If you want to get rid of your bad temper, think that there are no heroes in the world who think they have no faults, and there is absolutely no knowledge of resenting others. Therefore, the unsatisfactory work is because one’s own virtues have not been cultivated, and one’s cultivation is not enough, and one cannot convince others with virtues. You should introspect and review in turn, whether you have done something unsatisfactory, or if you have done something wrong to others. If I can work hard like this, others will slander me and humiliate me. Instead, it will be a good opportunity to hone and educate myself.
I should be happy to accept and be grateful, so what resentment is there? Furthermore, other people’s slander is like burning up a fire, and it will burn itself. If you try your best to argue and defend it, it will just become darker and darker, and you will be trapped in a cocoon. [A single spark can burn the forest of virtues, so don’t be careless! 〕In short, killing and getting angry are both harmful and useless things. There are various other mistakes, which can be deduced by analogy. If you think about it carefully, if you can understand the truth, the mistakes will not happen again.
How do you call it a change from the heart? Millions of mistakes all start from the heart; if you can keep your mind from thinking, be selfless and have no desires, you will naturally have no sins. Many scholars even set up various rules for themselves to abide by in response to various mistakes. In fact, as long as we can focus on goodness and fill our hearts with righteous thoughts, evil thoughts will naturally have no chance to approach us and pollute us.
Just like the scorching sun in the sky, the ghosts disappear. This is the most accurate and only way to repair the mind. Mistakes are made by the heart and changed by the heart. Like cutting a poisonous tree, if you cut off the roots first, then all the branches and leaves will fall; how about cutting the branches and picking the leaves?
The best way to change is to cultivate your mind. If you can cultivate your mind, you can immediately purify your mind. If you can cultivate your mind, you will feel bad thoughts as soon as they occur. If you can feel it, you should immediately stop your mind; if you don’t move your mind, the bad thoughts will disappear and you won’t commit them again. If you can’t do this, then you must understand the reason for the mistake you made, and get rid of the thought of making the mistake. If it is not possible to do so, then we have no choice but to use the method of forcibly suppressing the offense when we encounter a transgression.
The above kung fu methods can be implemented together.If you only understand the prohibition, but don’t understand the reason, you will be the most clumsy. But if you make a vow to change your mistakes, you must also have help; friend to point it out; in the dark, you can ask ghosts and gods to prove it. Such one-hearted repentance must not be relaxed day and night, and it will be effective after a period of time.
What is the effect? For example, I feel relaxed and happy; or I feel that I was stupid in the past, but suddenly my wisdom is greatly enlightened; or even though I am in a busy and chaotic situation, my heart is still clear and clear, and I know everything; I feel joy in my heart; or I spit out black things in my dream; or I dream that the sages in ancient times came to promote me and lead me; the void, free and easy; These are all kinds of extraordinary and beautiful things, and they are all good omens for the elimination of evils. But we should not be complacent because of this, and do not seek further progress.
Let me give another example, Qu Boyu was a well-known official in the Spring and Autumn Period. When he was twenty years old, he was able to review his mistakes every day and strive to improve. At the age of twenty-one, I realized that the previous changes were not thorough; at the age of twenty-two, looking back at the age of twenty-one, it was still like a dream. Year after year like this, I have gradually corrected my mistakes year by year ; until I was fifty years old, I still felt that I had made mistakes in the past forty-nine years. The ancients paid attention to the knowledge of reform, which is so worthy of our study and admiration.
We are all ordinary people, with many faults and sins, just like the spines on a hedgehog. When we reflect and review, we cannot see the mistakes we have made; it is because we are careless and do not distinguish between right and wrong. It’s like the eyes are clouded, and I can’t see where I have committed mistakes every day! All sinful people are mostly dull-minded, forgetful, and have nothing to worry about; when they see a gentleman, they show a state of shame and depression; Upside-down nightmares; even incoherent speech, disorientation, etc., these are the signs of evil. If a person has the above situation, he must work hard immediately, change his mistakes and make good, and don’t make mistakes.
