Fan Sixun

Chapter 2 The Science of Liming (Translation)
My father died when I was very young.My mother told me to give up the imperial examination, not to take the road of being an official, but to study medicine.My mother's idea is that studying medicine can not only support herself, but also help others.Besides, it is also my father's wish to achieve his own fame through a skill.

Soon, I met an old man in Ciyun Temple, with a slender beard, a stalwart body, and a spirit of immortality. I saluted him to show my respect.The old man said to me: "Young man, you are destined to be an official. If you take the exam next year, you will definitely be admitted as a scholar. With such a good destiny to be an official, why don't you go to school?" Tell him the truth, and ask him his name and where he comes from.The old man replied: "My surname is Kong, and I am from Yunnan. I have already obtained the official biography of Mr. Shao Yong's "Huangji Jingshishu". From the perspective of luck, I should pass it on to you." [Shao Yong was born in the Northern Song Dynasty. A master of Yi studies, he has a great book "Huang Ji Jing Shi Shu", which uses Yi theory and Yi teaching to deduce the origin of the universe, natural evolution and social and historical changes.Very mysterious, very remarkable. ——Translator’s Note, the same below]
I thought Mr. Kong had a lot of background, so I invited him to my home and told my mother.When my mother heard this, she also felt that this person should be an expert, so she asked me to treat Mr. Kong well.When Mr. Kong lived at home, I tried his spells with many questions, and none of them failed.So, I believed Mr. Kong's persuasion, and I thought about reading.But my family background required me to study, and there were certain difficulties, so I discussed with my cousin Shen Cheng, who said: "Mr. Yu Haigu teaches at Shen Youfu's home, and it is very convenient for me to send you to study there." In this way, I I worshiped Mr. Yu as my teacher.

Through divination, Mr. Kong predicted the results of the exam I will take in the second year as follows: if I take the county-level exam, I will get No. 14; if I take the prefectural-level exam, I will get No. 70; In the first-level exam, you will get No.9.I went to the exam in the second year, and it was true.So, I asked Mr. Kong to count my life.Mr. Kong did the math for a while, and then told me one by one, which year I will be ranked in the exam, which year I will become a scholar [a scholar is a level of scholar, and after reaching this level, you can receive rice grains from the country], and which year Become a Gongsheng student in one year [Gongsheng is the highest level of scholar, admitted to Gongsheng is equivalent to getting a ticket to Taixue], one year after Gongsheng, you will become the county magistrate of a certain county in Sichuan.After being a county magistrate for three and a half years, he should resign and return to his hometown.

Mr. Kong also calculated that on the 53th day of the eighth month when I was [-] years old, I would bid farewell to this world and die.Finally, he said that I was destined to have no children.I recorded everything Mr. Kong said.

From then on, all the exams and the rankings he got were not as expected by Mr. Kong.The only thing wrong is that Mr. Kong calculated that I would be able to pay tribute if I received 91 shi and five buckets of grain from the country as a granary student. tribute.He seems to have miscalculated on this one.

But before long, something strange happened.An agent Tixue surnamed Yang rejected the approval document of Tuxue surnamed Tixue approving me to pay the tribute, so I had to continue my life as a tribute student.Until the year of Dingmao (1567), I was already 34 years old. Master Yin Qiuming, who presided over the education, accidentally saw my papers and said with a sigh: "The five policies and theories show extensive knowledge and profound insights. How can such Confucian scholars grow old under the window?" Then, Mr. Yin applied for a supplementary tribute for me and was approved.At this time, I just received 91 stones and five buckets of rice.It seems that they still haven't escaped the fate calculated by Mr. Kong.This made me admire Mr. Kong so much that I believed in destiny even more, and there was no need to force it.

After paying the tribute, I went to Beijing, and for a whole year, I just sat in meditation every day and didn't read any books.In the year of Jisi (1569), I returned to Nanjing and entered the then National University—Nanyong [also known as Guozijian].Before going to Guozijian, I took the time to go to Qixia Mountain to visit Zen Master Yungu and practice meditation.Sitting opposite the Zen master in a room, he never closed his eyes to sleep for three days and three nights, and did not speak a word.

Zen Master Yungu asked me: "The reason why ordinary people can't become saints and enlightened people is because they are attached to various delusional thoughts. You have been sitting for three days and three nights, but you don't see any thoughts in your mind. What is the reason?"

I replied: "There is a fortune teller, Mr. Kong, who has clearly calculated the gains, losses, honors and disgraces of my life. Even if I want to have delusions, I have nothing to think about." Zen Master Yungu said with a smile: "I I thought you were a person of great wisdom, but I didn't expect you to be an ordinary person."

I asked him why he said that.The Zen master replied: "If a person can't be free from delusion, he will be bound by delusion, and in the end he can't escape the flow of fate. How can he surpass fate? In fact, only ordinary people have so-called fate. Very, very kind people , fate is difficult to trap him; a very, very evil person, fate is also difficult to frame him; because the seeds accumulated by good and evil make fate very uncertain. You have been counted by a fortune teller for 20 years. If you have lost your destiny, you will stop working hard and never turn your destiny at all, aren't you an ordinary person?"

I asked, "Is it possible to escape fate?"

The Zen master replied: "Everyone's destiny is actually made by oneself; everyone's blessings are also obtained through his own hard work. The "Book of Songs" says that we should keep our ancestors in mind, work hard to cultivate morality, and cooperate with the destiny. Pursue more blessings. It is indeed an ancient teaching. In our Buddhist scriptures, it is said that if you seek wealth, you can get rich and honor. , how could I deceive you?"

I further asked: "Mencius said that benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom are inherent in human nature. As long as we want them, we can get them. Therefore, benevolence, righteousness and morality are what we can ask for. .However, how can we get fame and wealth if we want?"

The Zen master replied: "What Mencius said is not wrong, it's just that you have misunderstood it. Have you ever heard the sixth patriarch Hui Neng say that a person's destiny is inseparable from his heart. If you look for it from the level of the heart, then There is no one who does not respond. Whether we seek it or not depends on ourselves. Not only can we obtain morality, benevolence and righteousness, but we can also seek fame and wealth. We can not only seek morality, benevolence and righteousness from within, but also seek Seeking fame and wealth outside, gaining both inside and outside, this is the correct pursuit.”

The Zen master also said: "If we don't examine ourselves from the depths of our hearts, but blindly pursue external things, we will fall into blind pursuit, and everything can only be left to fate, and we will not get it from the inside to the outside. benefit."

The Zen master asked me how Mr. Kong calculated my fate, and I told him honestly.After hearing this, the Zen master said, "Do you think you should obtain fame? Should you have a son?" I thought for a while and said, "No. People who pass the imperial examination are blessed, but I am very lucky. I don't have any." Accumulating merits and good deeds to build a solid foundation of merit; being unwilling to do cumbersome things, being intolerant of others, being narrow-minded, often being arrogant, speaking rashly, and talking casually, these are all manifestations of superficial merit. How can one obtain fame? Woolen cloth?"

"In addition, the more filthy the land, the more crops can grow. The water is too clear, and no fish can survive. I am almost a clean freak, so this is the first reason why I don't have a son. Kindness can be fertilized Of all things, I am often angry. This is the second reason why I have no son. Love is the root of endless life, and cruelty is the root of infertility. I cherish my name and integrity, and often cannot sacrifice myself to save others. The third reason for my son. Talking too much will consume energy, and I love to talk a lot, which is the fourth reason why I don’t have a son. I like to drink too much, which hurts my spirit. This is the fifth reason why I don’t have a son. Like Staying up late and not knowing how to raise the mind, this is the sixth reason for not having a son. There are many other faults, and I cannot list them all.”

Zen Master Yungu said: "Actually, it's not just a matter of merit and fame. People who enjoy wealth of a thousand pieces of gold (that is, great wealth) in the world must be those who are worthy of a fortune of a thousand pieces of gold; He is a person who is worthy of a hundred pieces of gold. People who starve to death must have a reason for starvation. God treats everything fundamentally fair, and follows the natural law of cause and effect, and will not make any mistakes. It is like giving birth to a child. If you accumulate the virtues of a hundred generations, there will be descendants of the hundred generations; if you accumulate the virtues of the ten generations, you will have the descendants of the ten generations; Inheritance from descendants; people who have no descendants, it means that the merits are very thin. Now that you have realized your past mistakes, you should completely reverse the reasons why you did not get fame in the examination and have no descendants. You must accumulate virtue, You must be tolerant to others, you must be kind and loving, and you must maintain your spirit. The old you is equivalent to dying yesterday. From now on, starting today, a new you will be born. This new you will definitely be able to surpass Inherent fate is the body of giri for rebirth."

"Body of flesh and blood, if it falls into the fate, it can be calculated. However, if we make our thoughts and actions conform to righteousness through practice, then we can go beyond the fate and decide our own destiny." "Taijia" in "Shangshu" " said that disasters from the sky can still be avoided, but the sins caused by oneself must not survive. The "Book of Songs" says that one must always act in accordance with the destiny and accumulate merit for oneself."

"Mr. Kong calculated that you did not get the honor in the exam and you did not have a son. It was caused by past karma, but since it is caused by karma, it can be changed. How to change? It is to plant new seeds, let them germinate and bloom. , to bear new fruits. From now on, you must continue to expand and enrich your virtues, persevere in doing good deeds, and do good deeds silently, accumulating negative virtues. This is the merit you have created. How can you not enjoy it? reason?"

"The "Book of Changes" is all about planning for the growth of a gentleman's life, and it specifically teaches how to seek good fortune and avoid evil. If the destiny is unchanging, how can we seek good fortune and avoid evil? The first meaning of the opening chapter , that is, 'People who are willing to do good deeds will surely get a lot of happiness'. Do you believe this sentence?"

I said that I fully believed what the "Book of Changes" said, and prayed to the Zen master for instruction.I confessed all the sins I committed in the past before the Buddha without concealing anything; I expressed my deep repentance and wrote it into an article.I vowed to seek fame and fame, and I also vowed to do three thousand good deeds in order to repay the kindness of my ancestors in heaven and earth.

Zen Master Yungu showed me a merit and demerit grid, which is a book used to record good and evil deeds and demerits. Good words and deeds are recorded as "merits", and evil words and deeds are recorded as "demerits".The Zen master asked me to register all the things I do every day.See if the good deeds increase, and see if the evil deeds decrease.He also taught me to recite the Zhunti mantra, saying that this mantra has a strong induction power.

Zen Master Yungu told me again: "There is a Taoist saying that even ghosts and gods will laugh at people who can't write talismans. The secret of talismans is actually very simple, that is, there are no distracting thoughts in your heart. Let go of all miscellaneous concerns, without even a little bit of random thinking. Just start writing from this moment of not thinking, and let go of writing. In the realm of forgetting both things and me, you can write with one stroke without any worries. Come up with an effective talisman."

"Praying to heaven, earth, ghosts and gods or Bodhisattvas and Buddhas, so as to construct the pattern of your own life, you should not have any delusional thoughts. Only by praying sincerely and practicing diligently can you get a response. Mencius talked about how to establish a life, saying 'you can live forever', What do you mean? That is to say, short life and long life are very subjective dichotomies. When we are quiet, when we are fully engaged in life, how can there be short life? If we have a mind of discrimination, then we can be happy with our destiny in terms of rich and poor, and not be burdened by rich and poor. If we don’t have a mind of discrimination between poverty and success, we can follow the fate of heaven in terms of high and low, and not be burdened by high and low. If we are concerned about short-lived If you don’t discriminate against longevity, you can be at ease in life and death. In life, life and death are the most important things. Once life and death are broken down, all good times and bad times can be peaceful.”

"Our attitude towards fate should be diligent self-cultivation while being able to wait with peace of mind. That is to say, it is to let go after doing everything we can. It can also be said to use the heart of the world to do the career of entering the world. The so-called "cultivation" is the self If there is a fault, it should be corrected thoroughly and never repeated. The so-called "once" means that even if there is a little bit of unreasonable intentions, ideas, and even a little bit of accommodating, they should be completely cut off. After reaching this state, Only when you have reached the state of not thinking, is the real learning and the real learning of life. It is difficult for you to be completely free from distracting thoughts, but you can insist on reciting the mantra without counting, just keep on reciting Mantra, never stop, until you know it by heart. When you recite this mantra, you don’t seem to be intentional, and you can do other things at the same time; and when you usually do other things, you seem to be reciting the mantra at the same time. Keep reciting the mantra like this If you don’t get delusions, you will have many magical reactions that ordinary people see.”

After listening to Zen Master Yungu's teaching, I changed my name that day.My original name was "Xuehai", but now it is changed to "Liaofan", which means that I have realized the profound truth about creating my own destiny, and I don't want to be bound by fate like ordinary people.

Since then, I have been cautious every day.Since then, I feel that I am different from before.It is probably the so-called "feeling that today is true and yesterday was not."In the past, I just lived leisurely and laissez-faire, but now I live a life of trepidation and awe. Even when I am alone, I often worry that I have some evil thoughts in my heart, which will offend the heaven, earth, ghosts and gods.When someone slanders me and hates me, I can accept it calmly and don't take it seriously.

In the second year, I took the exam of the Ministry of Rites. Mr. Kong originally counted me as No.3, but I got No.1.Mr. Kong's calculation is not working, which shows that the fate is variable.But when I reflect on myself, I am not pure enough: either I want to do good deeds but my actions are not brave enough, or I help others but I have hesitation in my heart, or I try my best to do good deeds but my words are inappropriate, or I can discipline myself when I am awake, but I am drunk when I am drunk. Indulge yourself when you have time.I seriously reflected on myself, and felt that comparing the good deeds and the mistakes I made, the mistakes were greater than the merits, and I really wasted a lot of time.

From the year of Jisi (1569), I made a vow until the year of Jimao (1579), and spent ten years completing three thousand good deeds.Since I was serving in Li Jian'an's army at that time, I had no time to dedicate myself. [What is "return"?It is to turn around the merits one has cultivated and tend towards a certain object. ]
In the second year of going south, I finally had the opportunity to invite Master Xingkong and Master Huikong to hold a dedication ceremony.All the wishes made ten years ago have come true.So, I vowed to do three thousand good deeds in order to obtain a son.As a result, before the three thousand good deeds were completed, a son Tianqi was born the next year.

Every time I do a good deed, I write it down with a pen.Jing's wife was illiterate, so she dipped a goose quill into ink pad and printed a red circle on the calendar.Or donate your own food to those in need, or release animals. There are always more than ten similar good deeds in one day.After four years, [-] pieces were made.Therefore, Master Xingkong and other masters were invited to make a dedication in the Buddhist hall at home.

On September [-]th, I had the idea of ​​becoming a Jinshi, so I made a vow to do [-] good deeds.Three years later, he became a Jinshi and was appointed as the magistrate of Baodi County near the capital.It turned out that Mr. Kong thought that I would go to a remote area of ​​Sichuan to be a county magistrate, but now it has completely changed.When I was appointed as the county magistrate, I prepared a book called "Zhi Xin Bian".Every morning when I get up and enter the hall, my family will hand over this book to the yamen servants, and then put it on my desk, recording every bit of good deeds and mistakes committed every day.At night, according to the practice of Mr. Zhao Yuedao in the Song Dynasty, he set up a table in the courtyard for offering incense, and honestly reported to heaven what he had done in a day.

Wife Jing was very worried when she saw that I did not do good deeds due to my busy schedule: "I used to help you do good deeds at home, so the three thousand things were done very quickly. Now you have made ten thousand wishes, but you are busy with official duties in the yamen. When will we be able to complete [-] pieces?" This is indeed a question that bothers me, and I don't know how to answer it.

That night, I had a dream. I dreamed of a man of God, and I told him my predicament. It was difficult to have both while busy with official duties and doing good deeds.The man of God said: "You have reduced the amount of food that the common people pay, and this is worth ten thousand good deeds."

The land tax in Baodi County was handed over to the imperial court by my predecessor at two cents, three cents and seven cents per mu.After I took office, the payment was reduced to only 1 cent, [-] cents per mu.Whether it is right to reduce the land tax, I am not very sure.It happened that Chan Master Huanyu came over from Mount Wutai. I told Zen Master what the man of God said in my dream, and asked if what the man of God said was credible.The Zen master replied: "The heart to do good is sincere and urgent. One good deed can indeed be worth ten thousand good deeds. What's more, the reduction of land tax in the whole county has benefited the people of Li people." Mount Wutai provided food to [-] monks as a reward for my own practice.

Mr. Kong calculated that I would be in great trouble at the age of 53 and die.I myself did not pray for longevity, but at the age of 53, I passed it safely.Now, I am 69 years old. "Shangshu" said that heaven is hard to reward, and his life is not permanent.He also said that fate will change, not constant.It is absolutely true.I understand from my own personal experience that it is the theory of sages who say that misfortune and good fortune are caused by themselves; it is secular theory to say that misfortune and good fortune are predestined by heaven.

My child, no one has counted your fate yet, so I don’t know what to do?However, no matter what, when you are so prosperous, you must remain humble and always think about being lonely; even when everything is going smoothly, you must think more about difficulties and obstacles; Be kind to yourself, but also think about what is worthy of being treated well by others; even when your family is prosperous, you must be prepared for danger in times of peace; Knowledge is far from enough.

From a far perspective, children should think about how to carry forward the good virtues of their ancestors; from a near perspective, they should think about how to properly make up for the mistakes of their parents.On the one hand, one should think more about how to serve the country; on the other hand, one should think more about how to benefit the family; on the outside, one should think more about how to take care of others; on the inside, one should think more about how to prevent one’s own evil thoughts from doing bad things.

Children, you must reflect on what you did wrong every day, and correct your mistakes every day.If you don't reflect on your mistakes for a day, you will continue to make mistakes with peace of mind; if you don't correct your mistakes for a day, you will make no progress.There are many smart and handsome people in the world, but some cannot diligently practice virtue and broaden their knowledge. Why?Just because of the word "Yin Xun", I will delay my life. [Conformity means sticking to the worldly views, muddling along in accordance with the inertia of society, and having no higher pursuit of life. ]
The truth about changing my own destiny taught by Zen Master Yungu is really incisive and profound, and it is the real ultimate truth. It is worth pondering over and over again, and try my best to practice it without any indulgence.

(End of this chapter)