Anqing, courtesy name Shigao, was the prince of the King of Anxi and the Queen of the Palace. AnShigao was very filial to his parents since he was a child, and he was diligent and studious. He read foreign classics thoroughly, was proficient in astronomy, medicine and many strange skills. He could also understand the sounds of birds and animals. Once, he and his friends went out and met a group of swallows on the road. AnShigao said to his friend: "The swallows said that someone will bring food to us in a while." After a while, someone bringing food came. Everyone was surprised by this. An Shigao's genius became famous in the Western Regions very early. Although he has not yet become a monk, he strictly observes the precepts. After his father's death, he inherited the throne. He understands the suffering and emptiness of the world very well, and is very tired of material life. When the period of mourning was over, he gave up his position as king to his uncle. He became a monk himself and studied Buddhism. He is well-read in scriptures, knows the Abhitan, and is familiar with Zen sutras. Later he traveled to various countries to preach the Dharma. In the era of the Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty (around 148 AD) he came to China. He was very intelligent, so he became proficient in Chinese soon after coming to China. So AnShigao began to translate Buddhist scriptures. He translated Buddhist scriptures from the Western Regions into Chinese Buddhist scriptures. He has translated about thirty-nine Buddhist scriptures. The contents he translated are clear in meaning, appropriate in text, eloquent but not flashy, and high in quality but not wild. AnShigao has a profound understanding of the principles of the world. He is able to recognize the karma of his own past lives and displays many miraculous abilities.
AnShigao once talked about his past life: "AnShigao was a monk in his previous life. He had a classmate who was a Buddhist. That classmate was often angry. If the donor was rude when the classmate was begging, the classmate would be angry. AnShigao had repeatedly advised the classmate not to be angry, but the classmate still did not get rid of this problem. After about twenty years, Anshigao said to the classmate: "I am going to Guangzhou to settle the fate of my previous life. Your understanding and study of Buddhist sutras are no worse than mine, but your mind is full of anger, and you will suffer the retribution of an ugly appearance after this life. If I realize the Buddha's Dharma, I will definitely save you when the time comes.' After that, AnShigao arrived in Guangzhou. Just as the bandits were in chaos, Anshigao met a young man on the road. The young man drew his sharp knife and said, "I really met you!" Anshigao smiled and said, "I owe you my past life. So I came all the way to repay you. The reason why you were so angry must be that your thoughts in the previous life were not fulfilled.' So Anshigao stretched out his neck and let the young man chop him, without any fear on his face. The young man killed Anshigao. Passers-by who came across this incident felt that it was very strange. After that death, Anshigao's spiritual consciousness was reincarnated as the prince of the King of Anxi who is now Anshigao. "
Anshigao traveled to China and preached Buddhist scriptures. It was in the last years of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty that Luoyang was in great chaos. So AnShigao said: "I should go through Lushan Mountain to save my former classmates." He came to Gongtinghu Temple. The god in this temple are very efficacious, and merchant ships passing by the lake come here to pray for safety. Someone once touched the sacred bamboo without the permission of the god. As a result, the ship was destroyed and the sacred bamboo returned to its original place. From then on, ships passing by were very cautious for fear of offending this god. Anshigao and more than thirty other ships passed by the temple, offered sacrifices, and begged the god for blessings. When the god replied: "There is a monk on the ship, I invite him to come to the temple." The merchant ship was very surprised when they saw this reply and quickly invited Anshigao to come to the temple. The god in the temple told AnShigao: "I once became a monk and studied Buddhism with you abroad. Because I loved giving alms at that time while I was often angry. now I have been reincarnated as the god of Gongting Lake, and I have jurisdiction over a thousand miles around. Because I used to give alms a lot, and now I have a lot of precious treasures. And because I used to be angry, now I have this body. When I see my classmates now, I feel a mixture of sadness and joy. My life will end soon, but now my body is very ugly and long. If I die here, my body will pollute the lake, so I will die in the swamp to the west of the mountain. After my body dies, my consciousness will probably fall into hell. I have a thousand pieces of silk, and I also have some fragmentary treasures. All these can be sold to build a pagoda so that I can be reborn in a good place." AnShigao said, "It is for this reason that I came to save you. Why don't you show your body?" In the temple The god said: "My appearance is very ugly, I will scare everyone." Anshigao said: "Come out, everyone is not afraid." The god in the temple showed his head from behind, and it turned out to be a giant python. The python rested his head on AnShigao's knees. Anshigao said a few spells to the giant python. The giant python burst into tears and immediately retreated back. AnShigao took the silk and said goodbye. The giant python appeared again on the mountain near the lake, watching AnShigao's boat go away before disappearing. AnShigao's boat soon arrived at Yuzhang County (Nanchang) and used the money from selling silk to build the East Temple. AnShigao built the East Temple and returned. At this time, the god of Gongting Lake died. In the evening, a young man came to the boat where AnShigao was sitting, knelt down in front of AnShigao, and accepted the mantra recited by AnShigao. After a while, the young man disappeared. AnShigao told the people on the boat: "The young man just now is the god of Gongting Lake. He has escaped from his original ugly appearance." From then on, there was no god in the Gongting Lake Temple. Later, people saw a dead giant python in the swamp on the west side of the mountain near the lake. The space between the python's head and tail was several miles long. The current Snake Village in Xunyang County is named after this.
AnShigao later came to Guangzhou and found the young man who killed him in his previous life. AnShigao came to the young man's home and told the Guangzhou man about his murder by him in his previous life, and explained that the incident was due to fate in the previous life. The Guangzhou man was very happy after hearing what An Shigao said. An Shigao said: "I still have the remaining retribution. I am going to Kuaiji (southern Jiangsu) now to settle this matter." This man in Guangzhou felt that AnShigao was not an ordinary person, and he suddenly understood the truth of fate and regretted that he had committed murder before, so he took some money and followed AnShigao eastward. They came to Kuaiji. As soon as they arrived here, they went directly to a market and happened to catch up with someone fighting in the market. As a result, the fighter accidentally hit AnShigao on the head, and AnShigao died at that time. The man from Guangzhou who followed AnShigao experienced two things that were caused by retribution in a short period of time. He worked hard to learn Buddhism from then on, and he told the people around him about Anshigao's experience. Only then did everyone understand the causes and conditions in this world.
The Records of Jianning Prefecture (Today's Northern Fujian) of the Ming Dynasty records: A family named Tong Yong in Xianxi County had two dogs, one white and one flowery. They were born together from the same female dog. They are smart, cute and considerate by nature. They play together during the day and guard the house together at night. Later, the white dog suddenly became blind and could not eat alone. The owner used weeds as a cushion and let it lie outside the eaves. From then on, the flowery dog brought food to the white dog in his mouth every day, and then spit it out and fed it to the white dog. At night, the flowery dog sleeps next to the white dog. In this way, almost more than two years. After the white dog died, the owner buried the white dog at the foot of the mountain. The flowery dog goes to the white dog's cemetery every morning and evening, and circles the place where the white dog is buried many times, as if mourning and crying, and then returns home after a long time. Is it a dog? He is able to be so kind to his brother.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty dug Kunming Pool to practice water fighting, and unearthed black ash at the bottom of Kunming Pool. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty asked Dongfang Shuo about the origin of these black ash. Dongfang Shuo replied: "This is not something I can know. You can ask the Brahma people from the Western Regions." At that time, there were no Brahma people from the Western Regions in the Han Dynasty. Until about 170 years later, during the reign of Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty, the eminent monk Zhu Falan from Central Tianzhu came to China, and everyone asked about the matter. Zhu Falan said: "At the end of the world, when the world is turned upside down, the calamity fire will burn it thoroughly, and everything will turn into ashes. This is the black ashes." Until this time, everyone knew that Dongfang Shuo's words were true. One hundred and seventy years ago, Dongfang Shuo knew that there was a Buddha. Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty dreamed of a golden man flying over at night, so he sent Cai Yin as an envoy to Tianzhu. Following Cai Yin back to the Han Dynasty were two eminent monks, She Moteng and Zhu Falan. Shemo Teng was the translator of The Sutra of Forty-two Chapters, the first sutra introduced to China.
You will realize that most of the people you see and most of the things you encounter every day have no value relative to your heart. Because these things tell you more clearly that they are obsessed with this world, and they spend all their energy on how to live in this world and live better. And this kind of betterness is entirely an obsession and based on greed. It's better to use your limited life on more meaningful things. What is more meaningful? I think it’s just awakening. Keep awakening, keep getting rid of greed, keep observing carefully, and keep doing meaningful things. That way, you won't regret it too much when you leave. This requires constantly reminding yourself, reminding yourself every day—what is the meaning of life!
In the thirteenth year of the Republic of China, there was a battle between Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The Zhejiang Army is stationed in Huangdu Town, Jiading County. There was a soldier who used a counterfeit coin to buy items from a village woman. When the village woman found out, she asked for a replacement. The soldier ignored the village woman. The village woman went to find the platoon leader of the soldiers. The platoon leader immediately exchanged the counterfeit coin for the real coin and put the counterfeit coin into his pocket. Soon, the Zhejiang army fought with the Jiangsu army. The bullet hit the pocket of his clothes. The counterfeit coin was dented, but the platoon leader was not injured in any way. After checking the casualties after the war, the soldier who used counterfeit money to shop from the village woman had been killed. The platoon leader saved his life with a mere coin. The missile was impartial and was blocked by the counterfeit coin. What a coincidence. - Chen Jingyi's "The Beautiful Story of Coincidence"