Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: Forgive Others, Discipline Yourself (寬人律已安自在)
We need to be broadminded and bighearted. If we are narrow-minded, we will often be led by our habitual tendencies.
Sometimes we are just a little greedy. This greed accumulates and becomes ever greater. If we act on a small bit of greed, a lot of greed will manifest. So, we need to take care of our minds and not desire ill-gotten gains, large or small.
For one person, two bowls of rice, three dishes of vegetables and a cup of soup every day is more than sufficient to make three full meals and give the body enough nutrition. In a family, each person needs more or less this same amount. As for clothes, even if you change every day, you still can only wear one outfit at a time. So just how much clothing do we really need? We are already quite clean. The same goes for our housing. Just how much space do we really use a day? What we truly use is very limited. What else is there to desire? We do not require much furniture for our needs. So why do we work so hard our whole life?
Making a living is not what causes suffering. What causes the most suffering is dissatisfaction. It is because we are not content that we desire things, large and small. If we do this, we suffer greatly. We need to cultivate good thoughts, and use them in our lives. We need to always nurture benevolent thinking and earnestly discipline ourselves. So in our daily lives, in our daily consumption, we must not be improper or excessive. We need to constantly take care of our minds so that we do not lose our path.
While dealing with others, we need to have an open heart and always know how to be patient and accommodating. We need to be open-hearted to forgive. Have strict rules for yourself; be tolerant of others. When it comes to the things we use, we can use simple things and reduce consumption. When we give to others, we can give them better quality things and give them more. If we can do this, we are forgiving toward others and disciplined with ourselves, then we will not transgress any of life’s guidelines. So, we need to always develop this generous and tolerant thinking. Then every day our lives will be live in peace and ease.
Always nurture good thoughts. Do not desire ill-gotten gains, small or large. Be forgiving with others, discipline yourself. Then your life will be peaceful and at ease.
We have said before that it is not only greed for material things that creates much karma. Actually, in our relationships, we may improperly use other people’s labor. On a small scale, we may use someone else’s labor for our own small business dealings. Sometimes we may not have any need, but we still trick others into undertaking dishonest business, or trick people into difficult, toilsome labor, just to enjoy the profits they provide. Some people will break up families for this. This all comes from our thoughts.
Every day I talk to everyone about the mind. We need to take good care of our thinking and always cultivate a mind of good thoughts. In dealing with people and affairs we need to always be open and tolerant. If we can do this, we will not be derailed from the path.
Next, the text says, “From Beginningless Time until now we may have done business or traded goods in warehouses, stores and markets, and sold thins under-weight or under-volume.”
This passage is saying that people, in order to make a living, will trade or do business. Whether in this life or a past life, we may have done these things. We may have purchased poor quality things and exchanged them for better ones. We may have purchased better things cheaply and then sold them for a lot more. This is how we did business. Some people open a shop so that they have a storefront, others may sell in a market.
Some people do not need a store, they just trade as middlemen. Vendors order a batch of goods of unknown quality and unknown manufacturing price, so the middlemen take a large amount of profit. The quality is low, but they say it is very good. Some do business that way.
Or they purchase things to sell at their store. The buy low and sell high. Some people use balance scales, small scales or a measuring cup. Some places sell really heavy or bulky things. In the past they used steelyards, which are really big scales. Some people sell full sacks of rice or baskets of yams that are very heavy. They cannot use their scale to weigh it, so they use a steelyard. To do this they hang the sack or basket from a pole, which two people shoulder. Then a third person slowly moves a sliding weight. On the pole, the pounds are marked off, section by section. This is for bulky or heavy objects.
Some people also use tricks while weighing items. There was such a case in the past. The story goes like this. There was a person doing a lot of business. He sold all different kinds of grains, as well as others kinds of things, in his enormous store. He used cups, scales and steelyards for measuring. He was always thinking, “I am doing all this bulk business, but I am not making much money. Whether I sell one pound, or one ounce, or even 100 or 1,000 pounds, my profit is still fixed.”
He tried to think of some method to make more. He bored a hole in the big steelyard balance. Because it was such a big, wide pole, he was able to do this. Inside he put some mercury. The liquid mercury would flow. So when he bought goods, the scale would hang down a bit, because the mercury would flow to that side. Someone would, send 100 pounds of good over, but when he weighed on the balance, “Hey, this is only 80 pounds. I thought you said 100.”
“But when we weighed it at home it was 100. How could it only be 80 pounds here?”
“Anyway, look at the scale for yourself.” He would show the scale to them, and it would still slant down. When they read the weight, “You’re right. That is so strange! How did this happen? It really is 80 pounds.”
So he would buy 100 pounds for the price of 80 by using these kinds of tricks.
When he sold things, he would tilt the balance the other way. When weighing something that was only 50 pounds, he would sell it as 70 pounds. Because when he tilted it, it would weight differently. This allowed him to sell less but charge for more weight. People say, “Stealing a pound or an ounce.” What he stole was not just a few ounces or pounds. The heavier the object he was weighing, the more he would be able to steal. So he made a lot of money.
When he reached old age and was dying, he called his son to him, and told him, “Son, let me tell you I did business and made a lot of money. Actually, I had a trade secret. Some people say that we sell things cheaply. Actually, everyone loves to buy from us. But I have a trade secret I will pass it on to you.” He told his son to bring the balance, and told him, “We made all our money off of this balance. Sometimes I buy something for a high price, but actually it is not high, since we get more weight. Sometimes we sell things cheaply, but actually it is not that cheap, since we give them less weight.
“And why exactly is that?”
The son asked clearly after he heard this. The father answered, “Inside this pole I have installed a mechanism, so next time you are selling to someone, remember to tilt the balance forward. Then even though it weighs less, you can still charge more money. You have to learn this technique. If you are buying, remember to tilt it backward. Then you will not have to pay them as much.”
When the son heard this, he was upset. It turned out his father was making money this way. This really was unconscionable. But seeing his father on the verge of death, he said to his father, “Father, don’t worry. I will accumulate some merits for you.”
The father did not know what the son meant when he said, “I will accumulate some merits for you,” but he thought, “If I die, and you accumulate merit for me, that is good.” In this way he passed away.
For his father’s death, the son held a ceremony. He invited many monastics to make offerings and say prayers for his father. This is called a transcendence ceremony. He was very respectful to the monks. But for the ceremony, he needed to burn offerings. After he finished reading the Sutras and praying very sincerely to the Buddha, he brought out this balance. He lit a big fire, and in front of many monastics, he broke this balance and cast it into the fire. He told his father, “Father, I have accumulated merits for you. I ask Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to bear witness. From this day forward I will. always sell over weight, and buy under weight to make up for what you did. This balance has already followed you so I can never use it again.”
As it was burning, two strange plumes of black smoke kept rising. They were very long, reaching up to heaven. Everyone was very surprised. “Strange！What exactly is happening?”
Three days after this Buddhist ceremony was over. Three days after this Buddhist ceremony was over, the son’s twin boys suddenly passed away. The two died at the same time. He was very saddened and suffered tremendously. “My two boys were so lovable. I did so much for my father. In the past, he did so many bad things, but still I was born with a kind heart. I am so kind, so why did this happen? I had just begun to do good. Why did my two children suddenly die?”
That night he had a dream. A person dressed in white, with white hair, came to talk to him, “Originally your father’s crimes were serious, and the retribution fell upon you. In particular, your two children came to ruin your family. Now, if you can uphold the vow you made to sell over weight, and buy under weight, you will be able to completely eliminate you father’s evil deeds. Thus Heaven has called back its two evil dragons. It will not be long before your wife becomes pregnant again, and gives birth to two very good sons.”
Sure enough, before long, His wife became pregnant again and gave birth to twins. The sons were well-behaved and intelligent. Later when these two children grew up, they went to the capital for exams, and both received the highest rank. The kind of story was common in the past.
Everyone, by coveting other people’s things, the retribution may fall on the next generation. So we always need to cultivate a big heart. We truly need to have self-discipline and treat everyone with an broad mind. Our mind can create goodness, but it can also create evil. In between good and evil is a very fine line, so please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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