In the Song Dynasty, Chen Fang inherited the Chen family from generation to generation with a simple and honest family style. There are thirteen generations of the Chen family living together, and there are as many as 700 people. Ancestor Chen Chongde is highly respected and has formulated strict family rules for the family, hoping that future generations will abide by it, so that the simple and honest family style will be passed on far and wide.
When Chen Fang presided over the housework, the family was still very simple and kind. Chen Fang is a gentle and serious person, leads the family as an example, and he is diligent, making the Chen family flourish, and there are wise people from generation to generation, and the whole family is full of auspiciousness and harmony.
With such a large family, the children of the Chen family are diligent and thrifty, maintain a frugal and simple living habit, and do everything by themselves as much as possible. "Children follow the family style of pure honesty and frugality from childhood, understand the truth of material resources, and they can work hard and be content with happiness all their lives.
In Chen Fang's house, stands a specially built hall, which is very spacious and can accommodate more than 700 people to dine together. When it was time to eat, everyone dressed neatly and came to the hall with the old and the young. They sit in order of age and rank, adults sit in one area, and children sit next to each other.
During the meal, the hall was silent and solemn. After the meal was over, everyone started chatting and talking to each other. This is a happy time shared by the whole family, and it is the most loving and affectionate blending moment. Many familial problems are often resolved through timely communication at this time, avoiding misunderstandings and suspicions of separate affairs.
There are more than 100 dogs in his family, and they all eat in the same trough. If a dog has not come to eat, the group of dogs will wait for it and refuse to eat first.
The villagers were deeply moved when they saw this situation. Think about it, even dogs can respect and love each other, and people in the villages have followed suit, with repenting, making the customs in that area increasingly simple and honest.
The county governor Zhang Qixian (later the prime minister) reported the deeds of Chen Fang's family to the government. The government felt the sincerity of mutual respect among them, so they were exempted from corvée and treated with courtesy. It is hoped that the example of this family will not only affect the whole town, but also influence the whole country.
Good fortune is not given by God, nor can it be obtained by burning incense and kowtowing to Buddha, but by self-cultivation.
1 A blessing that cannot be taken away
In the past, King Pasenadi had a lovely daughter named Shanguang. She was merciful and kind by nature, good-looking, smart, submissive, and wise. As a princess, she still treats people kindly and never shows her nobility. People in the country like her! The king and queen regard their beautiful daughters as the jewels in their palms and love them very much. One day, Shanguang accompanied her father for a walk in the garden. King Pasenadi said to Shanguang, "Shanguang, you have today's blessing because I am your father as king."
Shanguang said: "It's not like this, Father, my blessing is my karma, the result of good karma, not because you are the king."
Three times in a row, King Pasenadi asked her. Shanguang firmly believed that the blessings she enjoyed were the result of her own good karma, which greatly annoyed King Pasenadi. King Pasenadi thought that his daughter did not know how to be grateful. He thought to himself, I would like to see how well you can enjoy the blessing of being a princess with your own abilities!
So King Pasenadi ordered his servants, found a beggar from the street, and betrothed the princess to him. Shanguang did not complain, she took off her gorgeous clothes, took off the bead ring pinnacles, put on coarse cloth clothes, and left with the beggar.
The beggar's parents have long since died, and he wanders alone, never dreaming that the princess will marry him. Back home, the house was in disrepair and collapsed, overgrown with weeds, and only one side had no grass. Shanguang asked the beggar's husband to dig up the grass-free area. Unexpectedly, a lot of gold and silver treasures were buried underground. Later, every time the princess bought a place, gold was buried in the ground. So, the princess used these golden treasures to build a palace as magnificent as the king's palace.
After a while, the king missed his daughter, and his anger subsided. He wanted to see how her daughter was living, and was she still stubborn?
When he came to the place where his daughter lived, he saw the palace standing tall and solemn, more brilliant than the palace, with countless servants. This surprised the king. Shanguang told her father that she had the blessings of this life because of her past good karma.
The king couldn't understand why, so he came to ask the Buddha: What kind of good deeds did Shanguang have done in the past?
The Buddha told him: In the past ninety-one kalpas, there was a Buddha named Vipassi Buddha. After Nirvana, the king at that time built a pagoda to make offerings to the Buddha's relics, and the king's wife offered a pearl celestial crown on the pagoda. , the jewel on the crown shines brightly in all directions, this lady is the now Shanguang!
Later, when the Kassapa Buddha was born, Shanguang prepared a wonderful offering from the heavenly kitchen and offered good food, but his husband dissuaded her. Shanguang said, please don't stop me, let me have the opportunity to make offerings to Kassapa Buddha, so that I can be happy in body and mind. After the husband listened to it, he no longer stopped it, and the husband and wife both supported it. The husband at that time is Shanguang's current husband. He once prevented Shanguang from making offerings, so he suffered the result of poverty and despair in this life. Later, he did not stop his wife from making offerings, so in this life, he was able to have this glory and wealth through the blessings of Shanguang.
Everything is caused by cause and effect, and the retribution of good and evil will not go wrong in the slightest. No one can take away the blessings that you deserve; if it is not your own blessings, even if you plan for it, it will be futile, and a crisis or disaster will make you destitute. Therefore, accumulating virtue and doing good deeds is the best "investment".
2 The passing monk sleeping under the table
A passing monk went to a temple on the mountain to stay overnight, but the temple did not allow him to stay overnight, and even kicked him out. It was getting dark again and he thought "what should I do"? He had to sleep under the table dedicated to Skanda Bodhisattva, and planned to think of other ways the next day. But when he fell asleep, he was very angry and complained that Skanda Bodhisattva did not protect the Dharma and would not let him stay overnight.
At night, Skanda Bodhisattva entered his dream and told him: When you were in the temple in your previous life, everyone else was working hard, but you were lazy and reluctantly moved a few bricks. Because of the merits of moving a few bricks, you are lucky to sleep under my desk now, otherwise you would have been kicked out of the mountain gate long ago.
When this passing monk woke up, he was ashamed!
All suffering and happiness depend on oneself. If you want blessings, you must plant good causes, and if you want to get rid of suffering, you must cut off all evil causes. Everything that seems to benefit others is ultimately benefiting yourself, because all the merits and efforts in the world will not be paid in vain.
Blessings are external, referring to the blessings of good karma. Cultivating blessings is called blessings, and blessings are related to the blessings of human beings and heaven. The blessings are limited. After enjoying the blessings, there will be no more, and after the blessings are enjoyed, there will be no blessings. The merits are very limited and cannot go beyond the cycle of birth and death, because the attachments are not broken, and there are still ego attachments.
1) Virtue that everyone does not know: good deeds cannot be seen in the world, cannot be seen in people, and cannot be done as desired. This kind of virtue can accumulate more and more, and even benefit your descendants.
2) Virtue that everyone knows: good deeds are known and praised by others. This kind of virtue is rewarded quickly, if you do good deeds, let others know, others praise you, praise you, give you a certificate of merit, pennant, etc., praise and praise, after the retribution, it will be gone, and the virtue will not be accumulated.
Merit: Merit is in the heart, referring to the pure wisdom of the heart, free from troubles. If you do good deeds, don't focus on doing good deeds, don't get attached to this good deed, then you have merit. Abandoning attachments to cultivate blessings is called merit, and the reward of merit is infinite, because merit corresponds to the Buddhadharma and is in harmony with the self-nature, and can transcend the cycle of birth and death in the three realms, because there is wisdom in merit, and there is no self-attachment.
Why do you say "no merit"?
When cultivating "no-self", do not seek merit. If you crave and miss merit, you will not be "selfless". As long as you haven't really reached the state of "no-self", all merit is without merit. And once you reach the state of "no-self", you still have no merit. So it is said that "there is no merit."
The body is not me, it is a tool borrowed in this life
Our life fills all the worlds and is omnipresent, but ordinary beings turn their perceptions upside down and do not recognize this life, but only recognize the body. It is like not recognizing the sea, but only recognizes a small blister on the sea as itself. The "Enlightenment Sutra" also says that all living beings mistakenly believe that the four elements are their own characteristics (thinking that the physical body of the four elements is their own), and they mistakenly believe that the six dusts are their own mental characteristics (thinking that their thoughts are minds, but they are actually thoughts). It is only a reflection of the second and third weight of the body).
In fact, life and death are not experienced only when the body is broken. We ordinary people experience life and death every day, and every night we sleep is a life and death. Going a step further, the cells in our body are constantly being born and destroyed because of the metabolism, so the body is constantly changing, and it is in the process of birth and death at any time.
When you understand the truth that there is no essential difference between having a body and not having a body, and understanding that the physical body is the same as the Dharmakaya, life and death are the same, and "being in it without being frightened and not afraid" is to enter the Dharma door of ‘Seeing that everything is equal, there is no difference.’
People who practice generosity are famous in the ten directions, loved and respected by the wise, and fearless when they enter the public, after the end of his life, he will be reborn in heaven, and he will achieve Nirvana by practicing generosity for a long time. - "Great Treatise on the Perfection of Wisdom"
Precepts are the abode of all good dharmas, just like a hundred grains, herbs and trees depend on the earth. Keeping the precepts and being pure, can grow deep meditation, and realize the truth of wisdom. It is the first door for monks to enter Buddhism, the teacher that all monks rely on, and the first cause for reaching Nirvana. - "Great Treatise on the Perfection of Wisdom"
Most people who keep the precepts, hear the Dharma, and have a good heart will become monks in the future reincarnation, so that they will have the opportunity to study the Dharma in depth and escape from the suffering of Saṃsāra.
Are there things that remain the same for a long time? No. The appearance of things are impermanent and changing. And since the beginning of time, the appearance of things are impermanent and changing. If one can realize this, then all attachments, loves, sorrows, and annoyances arising from the appearance of things will disappear. These emotions are gone, and the mind does not stop at external objects. When the mind does not dwell on external objects, there will be peace and happiness, and peace and happiness will abide in parinirvana. It's not just the appearance of things, feelings, emotions, actions, and consciousness are all the same. -A superficial translation of "Saṃyukta Āgama" Volume 1.35