Life is but a thought: Nan Huaijin's 15 Life Wisdom Lessons

Chapter 3 Life is but a thought (2)
One morning in early autumn, a short young man got up from a park bench, straightened his clothes, and walked towards an insurance company with vigorous steps.It turned out that he was an insurance salesman.

He worked very hard, but his performance was mediocre and he couldn't make ends meet.He was often hungry, and sometimes when he was talking with clients, his stomach would gurgle uncontrollably. He was embarrassed and ashamed, and the clients naturally lost interest in buying insurance.He was kicked out by his landlord for not being able to pay the rent and has now spent more than 60 nights on a park bench.

One day, he came to a temple to sell insurance to the old abbot.He carefully and carefully explained the benefits of insurance to the old abbot, but obviously the old abbot didn't buy it. After listening patiently, the abbot said to him calmly: "I don't have any willingness to buy insurance." The young man looked surprised, and few people He refused bluntly at the beginning, so he asked respectfully: "Then can I ask you why?"

"When people sit face to face, only those who exude charisma can impress and convince each other, but you..." the old abbot continued after a pause, "Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, and you can only make use of your strengths and avoid weaknesses." Okay, otherwise your future will be worrying." The young man looked blank: "But I don't know my own strengths and weaknesses, what should I do?" "The authorities are obsessed." The old abbot turned and left after dropping these four words.The young man thought about it for a while, and suddenly felt enlightened.

So the young man began to talk to various people, sometimes he invited his colleagues to dinner, and sometimes he invited clients to drink tea, just to let the other party point out his shortcomings.Regardless of whether the other party scolded sharply or persuaded gently, he carefully recorded it in the small notebook he carried with him, and soon, the small notebook was filled with notes.Every night when he returned to the park, he would look through the small book by moonlight, thinking and summarizing how to change himself.Soon, he figured out 39 kinds of smiles according to the requirements of different scenes and different objects, and practiced repeatedly in front of the mirror every day.

A few years later, his sales performance reached the highest in Japan, and this record has been maintained for 15 consecutive years, and no one can break it so far.At the same time, the famous American writer Ogg Mandino called him "the greatest salesman in the world", and he was the best salesman in Japan - Hara Ippei.

Yuan Yiping once fell to the bottom of his life, unable to pay the rent and had to spend his days on a park bench, and everyone will encounter similar difficulties in life, such as natural disasters and man-made disasters, divorce of parents, death of relatives, betrayal of friends, failure to find To work, to support yourself... But when facing the misfortune and tribulations in life, please cheer up like Yuan Yiping, don't complain, learn to be strong, and practice smiling in the mirror every day; please firmly believe that if If you smile at life every day, then one day life will smile at you too.

As the philosopher said: "People are thrown into this world." In life, everyone will probably experience a lot of suffering and torture.These sufferings either come from family, or from career, or from disease.Many people in the world choose to end their lives easily because they cannot bear such pain.

What Mr. Nan Huaijin said about self-existence actually means that we need to learn to let go of the suffering in the world.Some people may think this way: I can only wait for rescue in case of floods and earthquakes?How can I save myself when I encounter difficulties?In fact, the truth is very simple: "It is better to ask for others than to ask for yourself. Those who help themselves will live forever." When you encounter a flood, you have to climb up the slope and wave your hands to be seen by the rescue team; In the corner of the air, only by not being crushed can one be alive and wait to be searched and rescued.Until these can be saved, you still need to save yourself.If you are already suffering in the face of adversity, but still have the extravagant hope of waiting for salvation, and waste your courage and strength while waiting, then pain will become inevitable and will always follow you.

life is like a dream
"Whoever realizes the big dream first, I know it by myself in my whole life." When a person's life comes to an end, you will understand that life is like a dream, and you can't take anything with you.

Life is like a journey. When we finish a journey and recall the past, it will feel like a dream.When we return to the original point, it is the time of waking up from the dream.

Flowing light is easy to throw people away. Looking back at the memories of fleeting years, you will only feel like a dream, like a dream, like a fog.Reality and fantasy are like the front and back of a folding fan, with words on one side and paintings on the other, as long as you turn it lightly, you will find that the realms of the two are vastly different.

Li Gongzuo's "Nanke Taishou Biography" in the Tang Dynasty wrote a story about life like a dream:

There was once a man named Chunyu Fen who was addicted to alcohol.There is an old locust tree planted in his courtyard, which is flourishing and flourishing.On midsummer nights, he always likes to lie under the old locust tree to enjoy the shade.

One day coincided with his birthday, he held a banquet under the big pagoda tree in front of his door, drank and had fun with his friends, got drunk, and was helped by his friends to take a nap under the pagoda tree.In a trance, he dreamed that two envoys in purple came to invite him to get on the car and go to his own country, so he went happily, and followed the two envoys to drive to a tree hole under the big locust tree.

After entering, I discovered that there is a cave in the tree hole.It was a sunny day, and it turned out that he had already arrived in the country of Dahuai.At that time, Dahuai State was holding the imperial examination, so he also hurriedly signed up.When the list was announced, his name was impressively ranked first.Immediately after that came the imperial examination. The emperor was very happy to see that he was a good-looking talent and well-educated, so he immediately appointed him the number one scholar and betrothed the princess to him.The No. [-] scholar became the son-in-law again. After the big enrolment, the young envoy became a good story in the capital for a while.He and the princess had a very happy relationship after marriage, but soon after, he was sent by the emperor to serve as the prefect of Nanke County.Because of his diligence and love for the people, the local people appreciated him very much.

Thirty years have passed, and his political achievements have become well-known throughout the country. At this time, he has five sons and two daughters.The five sons all have titles, and the two daughters are also married to princes, and their lives are very happy.One year, the Shanluo Kingdom sent troops to invade the Dahuai Kingdom. The generals of the Dahuai Kingdom were ordered to meet the enemy, but they failed several times.When the news of defeat spread to the capital, the emperor was shocked, and immediately summoned all civil and military officials to discuss countermeasures.When the ministers heard that the front-line military had failed and the enemy had already approached the capital, they were all helpless in fright, with pale faces.At this time, the prime minister thought of Chunyu Fen, the prefect of Nanke with outstanding political achievements, and immediately recommended him to the emperor.So the emperor immediately ordered Tiao Chunyu Fen to lead the country's elite to fight against the enemy.

Chunyu Fen led his troops to march immediately after receiving the king's order, but he only had experience in managing localities, but he knew nothing about marching and fighting.Sure enough, he fought the enemy and was soon defeated.The emperor was very disappointed when he learned about it, and ordered him to be removed from all positions, demoted to a commoner, and sent back to his hometown.

He felt very unhappy, and when he returned home, he was still sent off by two messengers in purple clothes.After the car left the cave, the scenery of mountains and rivers in my hometown was still the same as when I left.Chunyu Fen returned home and found his body sleeping under the big locust tree, he couldn't help being startled, he woke up, the servant was cleaning the yard in front of him, but he seemed to have lived his entire life in the dream.Chunyu Fen told everyone about the dream, everyone was very surprised, they found a big locust tree together, and sure enough, they dug a big ant hole, with a tunnel leading to the south branch, and a small ant hole.In the dream, "Nanke County" and "Dahuai Country" are actually so!

"Whoever realizes the big dream first, I know it all my life." When a person's life comes to an end, you will understand that life is like a dream, and you can take nothing with you.As Mr. Nan Huaijin said: "Now we know that life is like a dream, but we all want to have such a good dream." I don't know how many people can really wake up from this big dream in life.Some people wake up before they die after a life of muddling, but it is too late, and the car of life has almost reached the end.

Nanke Yimeng, time is like a sword, and the years are like a shuttle.Often in the blink of an eye, everything is like the past.Only cherish every day, grasp the precious time of each day, live out your true self, and don’t let life leave regrets for yourself; love the ones around you, and cherish the ones around you; there is only one life in a person, and all mutual acquaintances and loves are fate Therefore, we should cherish this life and treat ourselves kindly.Life is like a dream, but the pity lies in people.People with high self-cultivation see through life and death and don't mind what happens to them after death-because this is beyond the scope of their control.

Now that we understand that life is just a dream, we should have a correct attitude towards life. If we still insist on taking the false as the real and being obsessed with it, then we will get nothing in the end.There must be many unobtainable things in dreams. Since they are unobtainable, we should learn not to be attached.Life is nothing but life and death.Since it is a trivial matter, there is absolutely no reason to torment yourself with trivial matters.As long as you understand this point, you will find that in this beautiful dream of life, you can live a relaxed and happy life.

impermanence is life
Fortune and misfortune are uncertain, and the world is impermanent.Only by understanding the nature of the change and development of things, and looking at everything from the perspective of change and development, can we not deviate from the track of life.

From ancient times to the present, Zhuangzi is second to none when it comes to transcendence and nothing to worry about.Zhuangzi claimed that "everything will be conquered, everything will be welcomed, everything will be destroyed, and everything will be accomplished".That is to say, not to be disturbed by external things, and then maintain a peaceful and peaceful state of mind.Such a realm is not low, and few people can reach it if I think about it.Mr. Nan Huaijin has a strange metaphor for Zhuangzi's state. Babies are less than a hundred days old. When they hold things in their hands, they seem to be very firm, but in fact they don't use any force. They are peaceful and quiet in the vagueness. It is a kind of freedom.The same is true for being a human being, to grasp the root of all things in the vagueness, and to be at ease.

Why do people treat and grasp the things around them as if they have nothing?This is because everything in the universe is changing all the time.Mr. Nan Huaijin said that at any time, anywhere, everything changes in an instant and will not exist forever.For example, when two people hold hands, after the first time they hold hands and separate, when they hold hands for the second time, many changes have taken place in the process. Similarly, there are "one cannot step into the same river twice" and so on. theory.

Once, the Buddha traveled with several attendants.At noon, the weather was muggy, and the Buddha felt thirsty, so he told his attendant Ananda, "We crossed a small stream not long ago. Go back and fetch some water for me."

Ananda went back and found the stream, but the stream was too small. After some cars passed by just now, a lot of sand and sand were left in the stream, and now it became turbid and the water was undrinkable.So Ananda went back and told the Buddha: "The water in that brook has become very dirty and can't be drunk anymore. I know there is a river just a few miles away from here. Let me go there to fetch water for you."

The Buddha said: "No, you go back to the stream." Ananda obeyed on the surface, but he was not convinced in his heart. He thought that time would not change the water quality, but he was just wasting his time and making his trip in vain.He went there and found that the water was clearer than before, but there was still a lot of sand and sand, which was still undrinkable.So he ran back and said, "Why do you insist?" The Buddha didn't explain, but insisted, "Go again." Ananda had no choice but to obey.

When he went to the stream again, he found that the stream was as clear as when he passed by. It turned out that the sand had sunk to the bottom of the stream.Ananda smiled, walked back quickly to fetch water, bowed at the Buddha's feet and said, "You have taught me a great lesson, whether it is a stream in the forest or a river in life, nothing is eternal."

It was only for a moment that the stream became turbid. As time went by, it slowly washed away the mud and sand, and naturally became clear again.If people only see the small changes in front of them, they will not be able to grasp the whole of things. Therefore, it is a good strategy to focus on the whole and keep pace with the times.Mr. Nan Huaijin often uses a saying in Buddhism to remind the world-momentary impermanence.

Everything in the world, including time, is changing every moment. Mr. Nan Huaijin believes that it is a luxury to want to be happy for a lifetime.Because happiness is as erratic and difficult to grasp as a feather, therefore, a person's life itself is in the midst of misfortune and fortune and cannot be guessed.Fortune and misfortune are uncertain, and the world is impermanent.Only by understanding the nature of the change and development of things, and looking at everything from the perspective of change and development, can we not deviate from the track of life.

There are countless gains and losses in life. If you only see what you have lost, but ignore what is worth fighting for in the future, then although your life is not over, it is already exhausted.Moments are impermanent, but thoughts can advance with the times.As long as you are willing to take a step forward, you will see unexpected changes.In fact, we should be more grateful for "impermanence". It is because of these "impermanences" in life that we can live in the present moment, use every minute and every second of the moment to make decisions and changes, and enrich our lives.

(End of this chapter)