I've been sick a lot lately and my family has been struggling to make ends meet, and my siblings are all wealthy and none of them are willing to help me, so I'm going to sue them.
It's a big mistake to try to rely on people. It's what happened to you, not anyone else.
There are many people in the world who want to protect and help you. Kings keep us safe, and soldiers protect us from those who would harm us. Farmers grow food for us to eat, blacksmiths make tools, and merchants provide us with the goods we need.
Everyone, from the king to the common people, is protecting you. Nevertheless, those who spend their time eating without thinking about the cost of producing all things, no matter how contemplative they may be, are contrary to the laws of heaven, and will eventually become ill from the rotting of their five organs, just like you.
You are not born poor and sick; you are born poor and sick because you are not virtuous and disciplined, and it is all your own fault. Therefore, your illness is not known by others, nor is it caused by heaven. You should only practice moderation, eat sparingly, eat little, and live a frugal life. Then you will be naturally enriched and healed.
It's easy for me to be disciplined about food, but it's hard for me to be disciplined about going in and out of restaurants.
There's nothing wrong with that. Food should be the first thing to be temperate. Even if you go to the gambling hall and spend money, if you abstain from food, you will not ruin your house or get sick. You will also live a long life and naturally enrich your family.
Eating is the foundation of everything. There's nothing wrong with that, as long as you stick to the basics.
Foods are stronger or weaker for different people, but if a person who eats three airs a day wishes to abstain, he should limit himself to two and a half airs and not eat outside of the three. He should not eat any delicacies except salted fish, and he should observe this. This should also be observed when one goes to the gibang.
If I abstain from food and eat in moderation, can I still make a fortune even if I neglect my family business? Usually people think that family business is important and food is the last thing. Please tell us about family business for the sake of sentient beings.
Everyone who has life, including the king, works to eat. Even animals travel every day in search of food, and if a person does not do the most basic of tasks, they are no better than animals.
And if you don't work, you don't think food is noble, and you enjoy alcohol and meat all your life, and you overindulge, so your mind becomes distracted and lazy, and you rest today, and then you overeat again, and tomorrow you don't feel well, so you rest, and so on, and so on, and in the end you get sick and suffer. This is all due to the lack of moderation and prudence in eating. Since eating is the fundamental aspect of life, if you are careful and strict about what you eat, your body and mind will become strict together. If you have a firm heart and live a disciplined life, you will not learn without working, even if others do not allow you to work. Therefore, if you are disciplined in eating, your family will be prosperous and you will be successful.
People like sumo wrestlers and parasites don't have to abstain from food to reach great heights and make a name for themselves. How is this possible?
A famous sumo wrestler is a Japanese hoge-girl whose prowess overwhelms everyone else, and a famous kisaeng is famous because he is better than everyone else in the art of kyodo, the way of cultivating the arts and entertainment. It is natural for a lowly person to become famous if his karma is better than that of many people. However, while this may be entertaining to the masses, it is rarely truly recognized for its value. Famous athletes and parasites are famous while they are alive, but few people remember their names even 30 years after their deaths.
However, those who are able to exercise restraint and make long-lasting contributions to the general public are often recognized and followed by the general public with gratitude, and their reputations are passed down for generations to come. The achievements of such a person are also linked to the interests of the nation.
The mouth is for eating, and I don't think it's worth living if you're not eating what you want to eat. Food is the ultimate pleasure, and I don't think there's anything else.
Different people have different pleasures. A samurai delights in making great exploits, a peasant delights in increasing his fields and becoming better off than his ancestors, a blacksmith delights in being better than others at his craft, and a merchant delights in being successful in business and earning a lot of money.
Those who don't want to enjoy these pleasures can enjoy food without moderation, but those who do are doomed to poverty and will never be able to rise in life.
Before enjoying food, one should first enjoy the pleasures of birth and death with moderation and abstinence, and then enjoy food while living a prosperous life. Because one pursues the pleasure of eating from the beginning, one receives the pain of poverty from heaven.
The mouth is the entrance to eating, but it's also the entrance to the restroom. When you spit out food that has entered your mouth, even if it's in the same form, it's just as dirty as poop. When you want to eat a lot of food, imagine throwing it down the toilet first. If you still want to eat, flush it down the toilet first. No matter how much you want to eat, you won't be able to throw it in the poop.
Intemperate and imprudent behavior is as dreadful as throwing food down the toilet every day. Eating too much, especially gourmet food, is like shortening one's life. That is why few noble people or rich people live long lives, but many poor people live long lives, because they shorten their lives by eating gourmet food, and the poor extend their lives by eating frugally.
I have rats that hide in my house and come out in broad daylight, not afraid of people, does this have anything to do with the auspiciousness of my house?
The rat is a yin animal, representing the darkness of night, and its presence in the daytime is a harbinger of great ugliness in the house, illness in the family, and disaster and ruin in the home. When the family is healthy, the house is full of positive energy and the rat, a negative animal, is not allowed to roam the house.
In contrast, when the robe is decaying, the yang energy is gone and the house becomes yin, so the rat, a yin animal, comes out in broad daylight and scurries around without fear of people.
Since the success or failure of a house depends on its owner, if one wishes to make the house prosperous, one should light a fire in front of the deity in the morning and evening, offer the owner's food to the deity, and then give it to a poor person, such as a beggar. This should be done every day.
You should devote yourself to your family business and devise ways to benefit it. At six o'clock in the morning, you should rise every day to worship the sun as it rises in the east and receive the energy of nurturing. You should also take care that the household runs smoothly, and if you have younger people, you should make sure that they can trust and follow you. In the morning, you should get up earlier than your subordinates. An untruthful master who stays up all night to entertain himself and disturbs his subordinates' sleep; who gets up late and makes his subordinates get up early in the morning while he himself enjoys a gourmet meal; who emphasizes thrift and frugality to his family while scolding his subordinates loudly cannot achieve harmony, and will eventually be humiliated.
A monarch is the bone of a nation, ruling it to the core, while his subjects are like shadows beneath him. It is the behavior of a ruler to never separate himself from his subjects, and when he is happy, let his subjects enjoy the same pleasure. Then, when the country is in trouble, the people will be willing to help him.
Without these fundamentals, a monarch is not a monarch, and neither are his subjects. If a monarch lacks virtue, his subjects cannot be his subjects. The behavior of a monarch determines the fortunes of his subjects. This is the principle of the universe. Therefore, one should not speak of good and bad fortune through contemplation alone; after all, the cause of bad fortune lies within oneself. This is the truth of my practice. Even if you see a fortune, there is nothing else to say. Therefore, you should go home quickly, cleanse your body, calm your mind, and eat moderately and carefully.
(Continued next week)
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