Original text: Chapter 04 of "The Four Trainings of Liaofan"

Yi said: "When the way of heaven becomes full, modesty will be improved; when the way of earth becomes full, modesty will flow; when ghosts and gods harm it, it will be full." But blessing is modest; human nature is full of evil but loves modesty. "This is the hexagram of Qian, and the six lines are all auspicious.

The book says: "If you are full, you will suffer losses, but if you are humble, you will benefit." I have taken the exam with other nobles many times.

In the year of Xinwei (AD 1571), among my ten colleagues in Jiashan, Ding Jingyubin was the youngest and extremely humble.

I told Fei Jinpo: "This brother will be the first this year."

Fei said: "How can I see him?"

Yu said: "Wei Qian Blessed. Brother, do you think that among the ten people, there are some who are shy and don’t dare to pay homage to their ancestors? Are there some who are respectful and obedient, and are cautious and humble, like those who respect Yu? Is it like a person who respects the universe? If a person can do this, even if the heaven and earth, ghosts and gods will protect him, how can he not do it? "

And open the list, Ding Guo Chinese style.

Ding Chou (AD 1577) was in Beijing and lived with Feng Kaizhi. He saw that he was arrogant and restrained his appearance, so he changed his childhood habits. Li Jiyan was always forgiving and helpful to his friends, but when he saw his faults, he accepted them calmly and submissively, and never said a word in return. I told him, "Blessings begin with blessings, misfortune begins with misfortunes. If you have a humble heart, God will support you. My brother will be determined this year." And it turned out to be true.

Zhao Yufeng, from Guangyuan, was born in Guanxian County, Shandong Province. He was raised in the countryside during his childhood and has not been there for a long time. His father was Sanyin of Jiashan, and he was appointed as his successor. I admired Qian Mingwu, and when I saw it, I wiped out all the writings. Not only was Zhao not angry, but he was convinced and quickly changed his words. Next year, he will be ranked first.

In the year of Renchen (AD 1592), I went to the imperial court and met Xia Jiansuo. Seeing that his popularity was empty and humble, he came back and told his friends: "Heaven will send this man to you." Also, before the blessings are revealed, the wisdom is first revealed; once this wisdom is revealed, the buoyant ones will be realized and the wild ones will be restrained. If the building is gentle and kind like this, it will be enlightened." And open the list, the fruit is Chinese style.

Zhang Weiyan, from Jiangyin, has accumulated a lot of studies in engineering and literature, and is a vocalist in the arts. In the Jiawu Period (1594 AD), during the Nanjing Provincial Examination, he lived in a temple and was revealed to be unknown. He cursed the examiner and thought he was squinting. At that time, there was a person who was smiling next to him, and Zhang Yuan moved angrily. The Taoist said: "My official document must be bad."

Zhang Nu said: "You don't see my writing, how do you know it is not good?"

The Taoist said: "After hearing the composition, You have a peaceful mind, but now you hear the public scolding you. It's very unfair. How can Wen'an get a job?"

Zhang Bujue gave in, so he asked for advice.

The Taoist said: "To be perfect is to be sure of one's life; if one's destiny is not to be right, writing is useless, even if it is a work of art. You must make a change yourself."

Zhang said: "Since it is a destiny, what should I do? Transformation?"

The Taoist said: "Heaven is the creator of destiny, and I am the one who establishes destiny. If I strive to do good deeds and accumulate negative virtues, what blessings can I not seek?"

Zhang said: "I Poor man, what can you do?"

The Taoist said: "Good deeds are all created by the mind. If you always keep this mind, the merits are immeasurable, and if you are humble, it does not cost money. How can you not Are you going to scold the examiner instead?”

Zhang thus maintained self-restraint, cultivated his virtue more and more, and became more virtuous every day. Ding You (AD 1597), I dreamed of a high room, and I had to try to record a volume, but there were many missing lines. Asking others, he said: "This is the record of the current examination."

Ask: "How many names are missing?"

He said: "The examination is conducted every three years in the underworld, and you must accumulate virtue. Those who are not guilty can only have a name. The missing ones are all related to the old Chinese style, and they are gone because of the new thin line. "The next line says: "You have been very careful in your behavior for the past three years. , Maybe you should make up for this, luckily love yourself." This is one hundred and five people in Keguo.

From this point of view, if you look up three feet above your head, there will definitely be a god. It is up to me to pursue good luck and avoid bad luck. I must be diligent in controlling my behavior, never offending the ghosts and gods of heaven and earth, and humble myself, so that the ghosts and gods of heaven and earth will take pity on me at all times. Only then can I have the foundation to receive blessings. Those who are full of Qi will definitely not be far away, and even if they send out their hair, they will be of no use. A person with a little insight will not be able to bear to narrow his own scope and deny himself the blessings. If he is humble, he will have the ground to receive teachings and get endless good things, especially those that are indispensable for cultivators.

An old saying goes: "Those who aspire to fame will surely gain fame; those who aspire to wealth and honor will surely gain wealth and honor." A person's ambition is like a tree with roots. To establish this ambition, one must be humble and free from dust. , nature moves heaven and earth, and it is me who brings blessings.

Today's people who are seeking to get into college have no real ambition at the beginning, but they are just interested in it for a while.

Mencius said: "The king's happiness is so great that he can almost equal his concubines?" The same is true for the name of the science.

Translation:

The Qian Gua of the Book of Changes says: According to Heaven’s principles, no matter what, those who are proud and complacent will suffer losses, while those who are humble will benefit. The truth of the earth, no matter what it is, will change the proud and complacent person and make him unable to be satisfied forever; while the humble person will be nourished and never withered, just like a low place where flowing water will definitely be full of his flaws. . According to the teachings of ghosts and gods, whoever is proud and complacent will be harmed, but whoever is humble will be blessed. The principle of human beings is to hate those who are proud and complacent, but to like those who are humble.

From this perspective, heaven, earth, ghosts, gods, and humans all value humility. The sixty-four hexagrams in the Book of Changes all talk about the changes of yin and yang in the heaven and earth, and teach people how to behave. In each hexagram, there are bad and good fortunes. The bad hexagram warns people to avoid evil and do good, and the good hexagram encourages people to be new and renewed day by day. Only this Qian hexagram, every line is auspicious. The scriptures also say: If you are complacent, you will be harmed; if you are humble, you will be benefited.

I have gone to take exams with many people several times, and every time I see poor scholars who are about to become rich and pass the exams, their faces must be humble and serene, as if they can succeed. Holding it with hands.

In the year of Xinwei, I went to the capital to take the exam. My fellow Jiashan people went to take part in the exam together. There were about ten people. Only Ding Jingyu was the youngest and very humble. I told him Fei Jinpo, who also went to the exam, said: This man will definitely pass the exam this year. Fei Jinpo asked me: How can we tell?

I say: Only humble people can bear blessings. Brother, do you think among the ten of us, is there anyone who is honest and kind, and dare not get ahead of others in everything, like Jingyu? Is there someone who is respectful, willing to accept everything, careful and humble, like Jingyu? Is there anyone who refuses to answer when someone insults him, or refuses to argue when someone slanders him, like Jingyu? If a person can do this, even the ghosts and gods of heaven and earth will bless him. Is there any reason for underdevelopment? When the results were released, Ding Jingyu passed the exam.

When Ding Chou was in the capital, he lived with Feng Kaizhi. When he saw him, he was always humble and humble, with a gentle face and not proud at all, which greatly changed his childhood habits. He has an upright and honest friend, Ji Jiyan, who often accuses him of his mistakes in person, but he only sees him calmly accepting his friend's accusations and never refutes a word.

I told him: If a person is blessed, he must have the roots of blessing; if he is in trouble, there must be signs of misfortune. As long as his heart can be humble, God will definitely help him, and your brother will definitely be able to take the first place this year! Later, Feng Kaizhi really passed the exam.

Zhao Yufeng, whose name was Guangyuan, was a native of Guanxian County, Shandong Province. When he was under twenty years old, he passed the imperial examination. Later, he took the national examination, but failed many times. His father was the chief secretary of Jiashan County, and Yufeng took office with his father. Yufeng was very envious of the knowledge of Qian Mingwu, a famous scholar in Jiashan County, so he went to see him with his articles. Unexpectedly, Mr. Qian actually picked up a pen and erased all his articles.

Not only did Yufeng not get angry, he was convinced and quickly corrected the shortcomings in his article. It is rare for young people to study hard with such humility. Next year, Yufeng will pass the exam.

In the year of Renchen, I went to the capital to meet the emperor and met a scholar named Xia Jiansuo. I saw his temperament, humility, no pride at all, and his humble brilliance. , as if approaching people.

I came back and told my friends: Whenever God wants to make this person prosperous, if God does not bring him blessings, he must first give him wisdom. Once this kind of wisdom is revealed, it will naturally make the slippery person become a person. When he becomes honest, the presumptuous person will automatically restrain himself. If Jiansuo is gentle and kind to this extent, he has become wise, and God will surely bless him. When the results were released, Jiansuo passed the exam.

There was a scholar in Jiangyin. His name is Zhang Weiyan. He has accumulated a lot of knowledge and writes well. He is very famous among many scholars.

During the Nanjing Provincial Examination in the Jiawu Year, he stayed in a place and went to a monastery. When the results were released, his name was not on the list. He was not convinced and cursed the examiner. His eyesight was not clear and he could not tell that his article was good.

At that time, there was a Taoist priest smiling nearby, and Zhang Weiyan immediately took out his anger on the Taoist priest. The Taoist said: Your article must be bad. Zhang Weiyan became even more angry and said: If you haven't seen my article, how do you know that my writing is not good? The Taoist priest said: I often hear people say that the most important thing in writing an essay is to be calm. Now that I hear you yelling at the examiner, it means that you are very unhappy and angry. How can your essay be good?

After hearing what the Taoist said, Zhang Weiyan surrendered unconsciously, so he turned to the Taoist for advice. The Taoist priest said: If you want to pass the examination for fame, it all depends on fate. You should not succeed in fate. Even if your article is good, it is of no benefit and you will still not pass the exam. You must change it yourself.

Zhang Weiyan asked: Since it is fate, how to change it? The Taoist priest said: Although the power to create life lies with heaven, the power to establish life still belongs to me. As long as you are willing to do your best to do good deeds and accumulate more negative virtues, what blessings cannot be obtained?

Zhang Weiyan said: I am a poor scholar, what good deeds can I do?

Taoist priests said: Doing good deeds and accumulating negative energy are all done from this heart. As long as you always have the intention to do good deeds and accumulate negative merits, your merits will be boundless. Just like being humble, you don't have to spend money. Why don't you reflect on yourself and think that you are too young to be humble? Instead, you scold the examiner for being unfair?

After listening to the Taoist priest's words, Zhang Weiyan suppressed his always proud ambition. He paid great attention to controlling himself and not to go astray. He worked hard every day to cultivate good deeds and accumulate virtue every day. In the year of Dingyou, one day, he dreamed that he went to a very tall house and saw a list of admissions for examination, with many missing lines in the middle.

He couldn’t understand, so he asked the person next to him: What is this? The man said: This is the list of candidates for this year's exam. And Zhang Weiyan asked: Why are there so many missing players on the roster? The man then replied: The underworld will test those who take the exam every three years. They must have accumulated good deeds and have no faults, so that their names will be in this book. For example, the vacancies at the front of the roster were those who should have passed the exam in the past, but their names were removed because of their recent sins.

Later, the man pointed to another line and said: You have carefully controlled yourself in the past three years and have not committed any crime. Perhaps it is time to fill this gap. I hope you cherish self-love and do not make mistakes! Sure enough, Zhang Weiyan passed the 105th place in the college entrance examination.

God has the power to create life, and I have the power to establish life. As long as you are willing to work hard, do more good deeds and accumulate negative virtue! If you accumulate negative virtues, what kind of blessings can you not expect? Can’t ask for it?

From what has been said above, it seems that there must be gods monitoring human behavior three feet above the head. Therefore, things that are beneficial to others and auspicious should be done quickly; things that are dangerous and harmful to others should be avoided and not done. This can be decided by myself. As long as I have good intentions and restrain all unwholesome behaviors, I will not do them at all. Only by not offending the ghosts and gods of heaven and earth, and being modest, and being willing to adapt without being arrogant, can the ghosts and gods of heaven and earth pity me at all times, so that I can have the foundation of blessing. Those who are full of arrogance must not have lofty ideals. Even if they can be prosperous, they will not last long. Enjoy the blessings.

A person with a little knowledge will definitely not be willing to narrow his mind and refuse the blessings he can get. Moreover, a humble person will still have a place to be taught. If a person is not humble, he will not be humble. , who is willing to teach him?

Moreover, a humble person is willing to learn from the good deeds of others and imitate others’ good deeds. Then there will be no end to the good deeds he can obtain. Especially for those who pursue moral cultivation, they must be indispensable!

Three feet high! If you decide to have a god, you must not only have good intentions, but also be open-minded. You must not do bad things, and you must be willing to accommodate yourself to the ghosts and gods of heaven and earth. Don’t offend! Don't be offended!

There are a few old sayings from the ancients: Those who are willing to seek fame will definitely get it; those who are willing to seek wealth will definitely be rewarded with wealth. A person has lofty ambitions, just like a tree has roots; when a tree has roots, it will produce branches, flowers and leaves.

If a person wants to set up such a great ambition, he must be humble in every thought. Even if he encounters something as small as dust, he must make it convenient for others and be able to do this. It will naturally move the world.

The blessings all belong to myself. If I really want to create them, I can create them. Like those who seek fame and fame nowadays, what they had sincerely in the beginning was just a temporary interest; when the interest comes, they go for it; when the interest subsides, they stop. Mencius said to King Xuan: Your Majesty likes music, if it reaches the extreme, Then Qi's national destiny will probably be prosperous. But the king's love for music is just a personal pursuit of happiness. If the personal pursuit of happiness can be extended to enjoy music with the people and make the people happy, then will the country of Qi not be prosperous?

I think the same is true for seeking the name of a science. We must implement and extend the intention of seeking the name of a science into accumulating virtue and doing good deeds; Decide for yourself!

Dear listeners, after listening to the "Four Lessons from Learning Audiobook", you must have felt a lot in your heart and felt that you have benefited a lot. This is indeed an exciting and purifying book. Audio book; the original text of the book "The Four Lessons from the Mortal World" is very beautiful and elegant. On the surface, it seems not difficult to understand, but the principles of the universe and life hidden in it are very profound and must be understood with heart. , only then can you get what you want from your heart.

So I hope that all listeners, after listening to the tape, will read the original text of Fan’s four precepts 300 times. You will surely gain more confidence and imitate Mr. Fan’s determination to make a living. Be more determined; and then practice it personally, stop evil and practice good. Therefore, one's studies, career, and family can all be perfect, and becoming a saint and a virtuous person is just around the corner.

In order to benefit the public and spread it widely, we hereby declare that the audiobook of the Four Precepts does not have the so-called "intellectual property rights" issue. Kind-hearted people are very welcome to vigorously promote the duplication and provide teaching reference for schools at all levels. , to assist the psychological construction of our college, middle and primary school students; and to purify the hearts of society and improve moral concepts; everyone has learned the spirit of morality, refraining from doing evil, practicing good deeds, doing good deeds, and serving the public. If everyone can In this way, the future of the country will be bright and the world will be peaceful.