Beerish

Second Lesson

The Method of Repentance

In the Spring and Autumn Period of Chinese history, during the Chiu Dynasty (800-400 B.C.), there were many officials who had the ability to predict one’s future just by observing one’s words and behaviour. As recorded in history, they were also very accurate. Generally one’s future whether it will be good or bad begins first in one’s heart/mind, and then it is expressed in one’s behaviour. If one looks kind and sincere and one’s behaviour is good, one will receive great fortune. However, one who looks very cruel and behaves without consideration for others usually is inviting trouble, so thre is no mystery in this. One’s heart/ mind is connected with heaven. If one wants to invite good fortune and not trouble, the first thing one has to do is to repent, even before performing good deeds.

There are three ways to repent. The first way is to have a conscience or shamefulness. When we think about our ancestors, the sages of the ancient times, they were also human and yet their teachings have lasted thousand of years. We are only attached to sensual pleasure, fame and wealth, and we have no discipline in our behaviour. We commit disgraceful acts behind others’ backs, thinking that on one else can see. Gradually one only becomes an animal dressed in human clothing. This behaviour is the most shameful.

Mencius has said that a sense of conscience or shamefulness is the key to becoming a saintly person. If one does not know anything about a consience or shamefulness, then one is like an animal, and so the first step in repentance is the start of a conscience and this is what distinguishes humans from animals.

The second way is to have respectfulness. This regards beings in the heavens and beings in other realms. We cann decieve them. Even if we have made a mistake, the heavenly beings and other beings in other realms will know about it. And if we have made a big mistake, the heavenly will bring about a major punishment. Even if one is in a dark room, one’s every thought is known to the heavens. Even if one tries to hide, one cannot hide one’s thought, for these thoughts can be communicated. As long as one has breath left, one can repent, however serious the previous mistakes. There are accounts of people who have done a lifetime of evil, yet at the time of death, they suddenly become awakened and repented and passed away in peace. There is a Buddhist saying,”As soon as you out down the butcher knife, you can become a Buddha.” So, regardless of one’s mistakes, large or small, the main thing is to be able to change and repent.

The third way is to have courage and determination. Oftentimes one cannot change one’s ways because one does not have the courage and determination to stop wrong behaviour or to change a mistake. One should regard a small mistake as a bamboo sliver sticking into the skin and one should quickly remove it. And if it is a big mistake it should be like being bitten by a poisonous snake and one should cut the finger without any hesitation. If one can follow the three ways, then repentance will come as easily as ice melting in the spring.

There are three stages in repentance. The first is changing one’s behaviour; the second is altering one’s mental understanding from a mental change; and the third is changing from the level of the heart. Each stage is practised differently, with different degress of success. An example of the first one would be if one has killed on a previous day, one vows not to kill on the present day. Or, if one had become very angry on a previous day, one could calmly govern one’s inner thoughts on the present day. This is changing one’s behaviour. However, if one just does this simply from this level it is an oppressive method and it is very hard to truly accomplish a level of repentance.

A more appropriate way to repent is though understanding from the mental level. For example, if one wants to change the habit of killing one thinks about how all living things value life; we should ask ourselves that if we kill to feed ourselves how can we be at peace? And besides, the pain of boiling water and hot oil must penetrate through the bone and marrow. The secret of health is in balancing one’s inner life energy and not being dependent on obtaining precious food from the mountains and oceans. After one eats it is no different from getting nutrients from the humble vegetables. Why let one’s stomach become a graveyard, reducing one’s merit? Furthermore, if one considers that all beings with blood and flesh have consciousness, then the fact that we cannot let them be like children playing close to us is already shameful. How can we further hurt them and cause them to hate us? If we think about all this, then we would be unwilling to kill them for food.

To change one’s bad temperament is also the same. One thinks about how everyone is different and how everyone has their strengths and weakness; and so we should be tolerant of one other. And when others cannot do things according to our wishes, or if they do things against the principles, that is their mistake. It has nothing to do with us, so what is there to be angry about? If things do not come our way, usually it is because we have not accumulated enough merit. So, if we think about this, and even if we are slandered. It should be like fire burning in empty space. It will burn itself out. If we hear ourselves being slandered and try to defend ourselves, it would be like a silk-worm making a cocoon, and we would be isolating ourselves. In any case, killing and anger are actions that harm us.

There are other mistakes that we can all change along the same lines. If we understand the reasoning behind the need for change we will not make the same mistakes again. Generally, although one has made many hundreds of mistakes, when you come down to it, it all comes from the heart/mind. If the mind does not generate thoughts that are rooted in selfishness, then we will not have evil thoughts. This is the most basic way of repentance from the level of the heart. All mistakes come from the mind, from thoughts, and so if we want to thoroughly remove the cause of these mistakes it is like digging up the root in order to chop down a poisionous tree. So to change at the level of the mind, one should be conscientious in every thought. As soon as we generate a negative thought, we should watch and eliminate it. This is the best method. If we cannot do it at this level, then we do it from the level of understanding, and if we cannot do it from that level then we do it from the behavioural level. But the most thorough way is to combine watching one’s thoughts with understanding. For those who have made the determination to improve themselves, it is best to have friends and relatives to constantly remind them, or to invite heavenly beings to be a witness and to sincerely repent day and night without rest. After a while we will start to get results, then we feel more at peace and wisdom will begin.

We can expect some of the following signs. Even if we are in a very disturbing environment, we will not get upset. If we see an enemy, instead of getting angry we actually become very happy. When we dream that we are spitting out black things, or dream that the saintly beings have come to promote us, or dream that we are flying in the sky, although many of these occurences are unusual phenomena they are only indications that we have resolved our past negative mistakes, and that we have some progress. This is not a time to become complacent.

We average persons make as many mistakes as the many spiny needles on the porcupine. If we quiet our mind down and still cannot see a mistake, it is because our mind is too coarse and we cannot see it. Those people who have accumulated a lot of demerit usually show certain symptoms. The mind is cloudy, forgetful, worrying when there is nothing to worry about, and one appears to be very embarrassed when meeting honest and saintly people, appearing to be unhappy when hearing the truth spoken. Sometimes when people give them things, instead of feeling grateful they would actually become very upset of angry. In their dreams they always have many nightmares. They also complain all the time. These are all the symptoms of someone who has accumulated a lot of demerits; when the symptoms appear, one should proceed to repent.

Hey guys,

Sorry but I really wanna share this book with you all cuz it changed my life. It might be a little bit controversial but I post this out of good intentions. Even when you abolish the religion part, it still makes sense. It will be in several blog posts. I hope you will benefit it as much as I did. So here goes:-

The Key to Creating One’s Destiny

First Lesson: the principles of Destiny

I lost my father when i was young. My mother thought that learning medicine would be a good way to support myself also to help others. In addition, in having a skill on hand on would nvr have to waorry abt making a living. Besides, I could become famous through my medical skills, fulfilling an amibition my father had for me. Therefore, I listened to my mother and gave up the dreams of becoming a scholar and passing the imperial examinations in order to serve as an official in the government.

One day, in my travels I met an elderly, distinguished-looking man at the Compassionate Cloud Temple. He wore a long beard and had the look of a sage. I paid my respects to him and he told me,"You are supposed to be a scholar. You have the destiny to be a government official. Next year you will enter the rank of Erudite (first level scholar.) Why aren’t you studying?" I told him the reason, and asked him name. The old said,"My name is K’ung from the province of Yunnan. I have a very sacred text on astrology. I have inherited the knowledge of Shao-tzu (a scholar from the Sung Dynasty who developed a method of predicting the future) and I am told I should pass it on to you." Therefore, I brought Mr K’ung to my home and told my mother abt him. My mother told me to treat him very well and we tested the old man in his ability to make predictions. He was always correct whether it was for big events or small everyday events. Therefore I became convinced of what he told me abt my destiny, and I started studying to prepare for the examination the following year. I consulted with my cousin, Shen. He recommended a teacher, a Mr. Y Hai-Ku, who was teaching at the home of his friend. I became Mr Y’s student.

Mr. K’ung then did some calculations for me. He said,"At the prefectural level, you will rank fourteenth; at the regional level you will rank seventy-first; and at the provincial level you will rank ninth." The following year, at the three places, when the examination scores came back, my rankings were exactly as Mr. K’ung predicted. Then I asked him to make a prediction for my entire life. Mr. K’ung’s calculations showed that I would pass such and such a test in such and such a year, the year I could become a civil servant, and the year I would get a promotion. And lastly, I would be appointed to magistrate in Sichuan province.After being in that position for three and half years I would retire, return home to live until the age of fifty-three years, and die on August 14 at the hour of ch’ou. Unfortunately, I would not have a son. I took down the information carefully and set it aside.

Thenceforth, the outcome of every examination turned out to be exactly the as predicted. Mr. K’ung also predicted that I would recieve a salary of ninety-one tan and five tou (units of weight) of rice from one position before I would be promoted to the next level. When I recieved seventy-one tou of rice, my superior, Mr. T’u, recommended me for promotion, and so I secretly suspected that Mr. K’ung’s prediction was incorrect. But he turned out to be right because the recommendation was rejected by Mr. T’u’s superior, Mr. Yang. It was not until several years later that I was finally promoted, and when I calculated the amount of rice I had received there had been exactly ninety-one tan and five tou.

From then on, I believed that whether promotion or wealth, life or death, they have their own time. Everything is predestined. I became quite indifferent abt desiring everything. That year after my promotion I was sent to the capital, Yen, for a year. I became interested in meditation and lost interesting in studying.

At the end of the year I was to enter the imperial college in the southern capital. When I returned, one day I went to visit Yun Ku-Hui, a Zen master at Ch’i-hsia mountain. We sat face to face for three days and three nights without ever falling asleep. Master Yun said," The reason why ordinary ppl cannot become sages and saints is because they have too many disturbing thoughts and too many desires. There must be a reason." I answered,"Mr K’ung has predicted my life, whether it is for promotion of life and death, everything is predestined and so there is no need to think abt it, no need to desire anything." Yun then responded,"The average person is controlled by the ch’i of yin and yang, and therefore an average person is under the control of fate. However,for a person who has done extremely great deeds, fate cannot control him. if someone performs extremely evil deeds, fate cannot control him either. For the last 20 years you have been bound by Mr. K’ung’s predictions, not being able to change your fate even a bit, and so you are still a mere mortal. Here I was thinking that you may be a sage or an enlightened being." At this Yun start to laugh.

I then asked him, "Is it true that one can change one’s fate, that one can escape from one’s fate?" Yun said,"Fate is created by ourselves, our form is created by our mind, by our thoughts. Good luck or bad luck is also determined by ourselves. It is said so in all the ancient books of wisdom. In the Buddhist sutras (writings on Buddha’s teachings), it is written that if you pray for wealth and fame, for a son or daughter, or for longevity, you will have them. These are not lies because false speech is one of the great sins in the Buddhist teaching, so certainly in a sutra it would be true." I then responded, "Mencius (a Chinese sage who lived from 372-289 B.C.) has mentioned that one should only ask for what is within one’s ability, in other words, virtue, kindness, honour are qualities that one can work towards. However, when it comes to wealth, fame, position, how can we seek them or ask for them?" Yun responded,"Mencius was correct. You have not understood the true essence. The sixth Zen patriarch, Huineng, had said that all the fields of merit are not beyond a small square inch. One seeks from within, in one’s own heart, and so one can then be connected with everything. The outside is merely a reflection of the inside. If one seeks into one’s own heart into practising virtous ways, then one will naturally receive the respect of others and bring prominent position and wealth to ourselves. If one does not know how to look within and check one’s thoughts, but only seeks from without, then even if one plots and schemes one still will not attain one’s goal."

Master Yun continued to ask," What did Mr. Kung say bout your destiny?" So I told him in great detail. Yun then asked,"What do you think you should recieve? Imperial appointment? Do you believe you deserve to have a son?" I thought about this question for a long time and then said,"while those who recieve imperial appointment all have the look of good fortune. I am very impatient, intolerant, undisciplined, and speak without any self-restraint. I also have strong sense of self-importance and arrogance. These all have the look of non-virtue, so how can I recieve an imperial appointment? There is an old saying, that life springs from the soil of the earth, and clear water oftentimes has no fish. I have a fetish abt cleanliness and so that is the first reason why I should not have a son. The second reason I do not deserve a son is because love is the basis for all life, and harshness is the cause of no life, and I am very irritable, and without kindness, too. I am overly concerned about my reputation and cannot forget myself in order to help others in need; I am not compassionate towards other, and these are reasons whyI do not deserve to have a son. I also tend to speak alot which destroys my ching (essence). I love to stay up all night and so I do not know how to take care of myself. These are the reasons I should not have a son."

Yun then said,"According to you, then, there are too many things in life one does not deserve, not only fame and a son. In the world, why there are ppl who are rich or who have starved to death is because they have created their own fate, and heaven simply rewards that which ppl have sown. It is the same with bearing children; if one has accumulated enough merit for a hundred lifetimes, then one would have desendants to last a hundred lifetimes. One who accumulates merits for ten generations would then have descendants for ten lifetimes to protect the merits, and those who do not have any descendants are those who have not accumulated enough merits, and those who do not have any descendants are those who have not accumulated enough merit. If one understands the reason for creating destiny, then changing the reasons for not receiving imperial appointments and for not having a son, changing from miserliness to giving, from intolerance to understanding, from arrogance to humility, from laziness to diligence, from cruelty to compassion, from deception to sincerity, then one can accumulates as much merit as one can. In loving oneself and not wasting oneself, letting the past be the past and starting a new day, one can start a new life. Once one understands the principles in creating one’s destiny, then once can create anything that one wishes. This is what is meant by a second life. If the physical body is governed by the law, then our mind can also communicate with heaven. As it is written in the T’ai-chia book, one can escape the deeds of heaven but one cannot survive one’s evil deeds. Mr K’ung had calculated that you will not recieve imperial appointment, and that you will not have a son. These are the deeds of heaven, but if you start new ways and start accumulating merits, then you will be able to change your destiny. The "I-Ching" was written to help people to avoid danger and attract good luck. If everything is predestined then there would be no point in avoiding danger nor in improving one’s luck. In the very first chapter of the book it is written that familes who perform good deed will enjoy good fortune."

From then on, I was awakened and understood the principles of fate, and so I started to repent all my past wrongdoings in front of the enlightened ones. I put down in writing that I wished to pass the imperial examinations to recieve an offical appointment, and I vowed to do three thousand merits to show my gratitude. Master Yun also taught me how to keep a record of my merits as well as of my mistakes because sometimes the merits will be neutralised by mistakes. He taught me to chant a certain mantra in order to strengthen what I asked. (Note: Mantra Cundi can be found in any Buddhist liturgy book.) The he told me that I should also learn the art of written mantra, otherwise I would be laughed at by the gods and spirits. The secret to the art of written mantra is to be in complete silence of thoughts from the beginning to the end of the whole process. It is only under some circumstances that the mantra will have its power. He also added that when one prays for something in terms of changing one’s fate, it is important to do it in a time of stillness of the mind, then one’s wish is easily fulfilled.

Mencius’ theory on establishing one’s life had stated that a long life and short life are not different. Superficially the two seem different but without the differentiating mind they are the same. Taken further, if one should live the proper way regardless of good or bad harvests, then one has mastered the fate of wealth and poverty. Or, if one lives properly regardless of position in life then one mastered the fate of high and low status. To change one’s fate for the better, one should first correct all bad habits and bad thoughts patterns. As a bad thought is formed, remove it from its roots. To be able to control one’s thoughts is in itself an accomplishment. It is not possible to not to have any thoughts but if you repeat the mantra to the point where even when you are not chanting it you are unconsciously repeating it, then its magic will manifest.

My middle name used to mean "sea of learning" but from that day on it was changed to Liao-fan, or "transcending the mundane." It signified my realization that we create our own fate. I no longer wish to fall into the trap of mundane thinking. I changed my whole way of living. I approached life very cautiously and seriously. In the past I had been totally undisciplined, my mind was out of control, but from then on, I started to watch what I htough and what I said, even when people cursed or slandered me, I tolerated it and did not become angry. The year after this, I entered the preliminary imperial examination. Mr K’ung had said I would come in third; I came in first. Mr K’ung’s predictions started to lose their accuracy, and therefore I passed the imperial examination that autumn which has not being in the orginal prediction.

When I looked within myself, I thought that I was still not totally comfortable in my new way of being. For example, when I did good deeds I was not thorough, or when I helped ppl I still had some doubts, or when I performed good deeds but did not always speak properly, or if I watched myself when sober, then I would let myself go when drunk. Merits and demerits sometimes cancelled each other out. From the time I made the vow it took me ten years to complete the three thousand merits.

After that, I returned to my old home and went to the temple to pay my respects and offer the merits. Then I made my second wish and that was for a son. I also made another vow to perform three thousand merits. In the year "hsin-su" I had a son, Tien-ch’i. Whenever I performed a merit, I would record it in a book. Your mother (Yuan’s wife), who could not read, would circle on the calendar with a stem of goose feather when she performed a merit. For example, we gave food to the poor, or helped people in difficulties, or released living things. Sometimes she could accumulate more then ten circles in a day. So within 2 years we had accumulate three thousand merits and again we returned to the temple to pay our respect and offer the merits. Then I asked for another wish which was to pass the next level of imperial examination, then chin-shih level, and also made the vow to perform tem thousand merits. After 3 years, in 1586, I passed the imperial examination at the chin-shih level and became the mayor of Pao-ti prefecture.

From then on I kept my record book of merits and demerits next to my office desk. I also told my staff to keep track of merits, and in the evening I would report to the heavens. My wife saw that I had not accumulate much merit and was concerned. She said that when we were home there were many opportunities to perform merits. Now that we had moved into the official residence there were fewer opportunities. How were we going to accomplish ten thousand merits? One night in my dream I saw a god who came to me and said, " if you just reduce the tax on the rice fields, that one deed would be worth ten thousand merits." As it turned out, in Pao-ti prefecture,the tax on the rice fields was very high.For each acre the farmer had to pay so much tax that I decided to reduce it by approximately half, but I still had my doubts. How could one deed be worth ten thousand? Just at that time there was a monk travelling from the Five Plateau mountains, and I told him about my dream. He said that as long as one is sincere in performing good deeds, one could count for ten thousand. When I reduced taxes for the whole prefecture, at least ten thousand ppl would benefit from it. Of course, that one deed would be worth ten thousand. When I heard that, to express my gratitude I donated my month’s salary for the monk to take back to Five Plateau mountains to donate food for ten thousand monks.

Mr K’ung had calculated that I could die at the age of fifty-three. I had not asked to change this or asked to increase my life, but my fifty-third year came and I survived. Now I am sixty-nine. From then on, I believed that if someone said that luck is determined by the heavens, I would consider the person a mere mortal. If someone said luck is a matter of what we create or become in our heart, then I would consider the person a sage.

In summary, although one does not know obe’s fate, in times of success one should carry oneself humbly and when things are going our way we should still carry ourselves as if things were going against us. When we are wealthy we should be as if we were poor. Even if we have the love, respect, and support of others we should not become arrogant. If we come from a very prominent family we should not be full of self-importance. When we have a lot knowledge we should treat others with respect and consult others when necessary. We must always try to help others and yet be strict with ourselves. We should without hesitation check on ourselves everyday and change any part of ourselves that is not perfect.