Even if a house's luck has run out, it can rise again and prosper if its owner abstains from food and strictly observes the rules. The head of a house is like a god in that house. Even if the robe is worn out, the house will not be destroyed if the owner abstains from food and strictly observes it. But if the master fails to do so, the robe will tilt and the house will be destroyed.
A person who knows and takes seriously the reward of poverty, and who eats according to his or her own proportion and strictly observes the rules, will, on the contrary, be able to escape the fate of poverty and accumulate considerable wealth, which is called self-protective virtue. If one is pessimistic and pretentious about poverty, one loses virtue and becomes poorer and poorer. Instead of seeking immediate happiness, a person should seek to attain the virtues of heaven and earth. Then blessings and virtue will naturally come to you. Worrying about what to do with food leads to self-induced poverty. Also, even if you abstain from food, it doesn't matter if you eat a lot of vegetables and fruits.
Those who wish to engage in artistic endeavors in any profession other than agriculture should first abstain from food and keep away from women. When his training is generally complete, he may approach women, but he should not meet a woman who is disobedient and does not understand his work. If you meet such a woman, she will sully your name and hinder your work. A man may be stupid, but when he understands, he can understand, but not a woman. You must keep this in mind. In addition, a man who has no robe has the reward of the Tao for what he is doing. If one studies deeply for the sake of the people of the world and regards them as his offspring, and is filial to his parents in this way, his good deeds will remain among the people of the world for a long time and never fade away.
A person who wastes water, even though he has the reward of a long life, will not live long. Even if he lives a long time, he becomes poorer and poorer, his old age becomes ugly, and his children's clothes become thin. And those who waste oil because they like bright lights will not live long. If you take what I'm about to tell you to heart, you will naturally protect your life and well-being. Water is the equivalent of the kidneys in the body, and if the kidneys are abnormal, it is the source of all diseases due to impaired excretion. Therefore, those who use water improperly will suffer from kidney damage, and if the kidneys are damaged, it will be difficult to live a long life. Water is also the root of growing trees and nurturing living things. Those who use water improperly will thin out what is born and grows, and will naturally have no children. Therefore, if one wishes to nurture the health of the kidneys and attain good fortune, water must be emphasized. Also, a person who wants to raise a lamp is a person who is prone to excitement. People with weak kidneys don't like the dark. If this person tries to keep the lights burning, their kidneys will gradually become more deficient.
A person who wastes paper is not rich, even if he has a wealthy prize. And even if one is virtuous, such a person cannot be said to be virtuous. If a poor person is like this, he will end his life in poverty. The reasons are as follows Paper is made of water. The sages say that paper is made of water, but even a single sheet of paper requires water to make a blank page. And paper is a connection to the gods, so it's pure and clean. Therefore, leaving a mark on paper is important and is like a divine act to clarify good or bad fortune. Those who do this improperly will lose much of their divine virtue and will be in poverty for the rest of their lives. However, the same paper used to blow your nose or use toilet paper is not sinful because it does not use much water to make it. Also, even a blank sheet of paper is not a sin if it is used appropriately for its intended purpose. However, those who use it recklessly lose a great deal of virtue. An imprudent person uses a blank sheet of paper as if it were toilet paper and throws it away, and a slightly more prudent person uses it four or five times before flushing it down the toilet. But a really prudent person doesn't throw it away, but collects the paper and takes it to the workshop. This is called virtue. The moment the paper is thrown down the toilet, it can never return to being blank again. In the mountains, there is no place to make paper, so a lot of blank paper is lost, and bringing it back to the workshop is a great virtue.
A person who, even with sincere contemplation, treats the objects of daily use with care at first and neglects them when they become worn out is not sincere and will not succeed. It is merciful to bury earthenware in the ground and to burn wood and return it to nature. Such a person succeeds regardless of his or her contemplation. Furthermore, a lifetime of contemplation is manifested in the work he or she does every day and the objects he or she handles every day. This is the truth of nature.
People who are too fond of Go and organs, even if they are contemplative, will not succeed in life. The exception is those who do this as a profession. Those who cultivate their bodies and minds and manage their household affairs are greatly disfigured, and those who enjoy them cannot accomplish what they set out to do. Amusement should be a means of having fun. Those who truly wish to rise to greatness and prosperity should follow a single path without distraction, and their aspirations will one day reach the heavens and be fulfilled in due time. Even if it is a small amount of time, if you are distracted by amusement, it will be very ugly. No matter how busy one's household duties are, they will never cause one to forget one's longing, but amusement is dangerous because once one indulges in it, one will enjoy it to the point of losing oneself.
Even for the most fortunate of families, having an artificial garden or pond in the yard will diminish their fortunes, or at least make them less fortunate. The desire to enjoy the mountains or the sea in one's yard is reserved for people of high rank, and if a person who is not of high rank takes up such a hobby, he is already no better than those of high rank in his heart and cannot rise above them. Even if they are rich, they cannot accumulate any more wealth than that. If the ancestors' virtue is strong and the robes are of great quality, the family will not be ruined, but it will certainly not advance. If the family's fortunes are not favorable, unfortunate things will happen to them, or they will suffer from illness. I have seen many such cases. If a person has a man-made garden or pond in their home, they should quickly remove it, put in a statue of their favorite deity, lose their share of food, offer the amount of food they have lost, and give it to the poor. Then the household will naturally prosper. However, if you offer food to the gods after you have eaten enough for yourself, your household will not prosper. You must reduce your own food and offer it to the deity.
