Part 2 (Volume 2) has a different format than the previous parts. It's organized in a question-and-answer format.
I'm trying to focus on one thing and succeed in a lot of ways, but my in-laws are a huge distraction, especially my sister-in-law, who is a bitch, so I lose motivation and can't focus on what I want to do.
When a great man or an ordinary man devotes himself to one thing, he should not be distracted by women, but should devote himself to that thing. If your mind is like the sun, its light will always penetrate the heavens, even if darkness interferes. A man who is not as intense as the sun will naturally be hindered and troubled because he has sought a wife who is very shady. It is providence that the husband is yang and the wife is yin, but if the wife does not obey her yang husband, the harmony of yin and yang cannot be achieved. If they are not in harmony, the husband cannot accomplish what he wants to do. As long as your wife is disobedient, you cannot accomplish what you want to do, nor can the world respect you. If even your own wife is not obedient to your will, how can the people of the world follow you? If a man's wife is obedient to him, his work will be accomplished of its own accord, and his household will naturally prosper. In addition, all the ups and downs of a family begin with the wife. The wife is the treasure of the family, and if that treasure is unstable, the head of the family will not do well. Also, the place that is managed by the wife of a family is called the government office.
The wife is the center of the house because she is located in the north, which is yin, and obeys her husband in the south, which is yang. Also, the north is the foundation for the creation of all things and always supports the husband, who is the yang energy of the south, hence the name Daeso (referring to the Japanese kitchen). The wife is also called an inner person because she is located deep within the yin and is not easily seen. A wife's obedience and support to her husband makes her a valuable and proud member of the household. However, if she does not, she is not the treasure of the house, but the evil spirit of the house, which destroys the house. If she is in the house, the house cannot work, and the husband cannot fulfill his will.
According to a Buddhist saying, if you excel at something, demons may appear and disguise themselves as your wife, children, or friends to sabotage your efforts. In such cases, it is better to part ways with them as soon as possible because they are your enemies. According to the Great Night Sutra, when a demon becomes your enemy, if you cut ties with it as soon as possible, it will turn into a good deity and protect you. Therefore, even if you have separated from your evil wife, if she obeys you with good intentions, it is okay to take her back as your wife. But even if she is a demon, it is a great sin to divorce her while you have children. I myself have endeavored for many years to devote myself to this path, but I have suffered from such circumstances. It is recorded that even saints in the past suffered from evil wives.
You only talk about strict abstinence from food and don't mention much about the auspiciousness of the horoscope. This seems to me to be not fulfilling your duties as a meditator. Please put the past behind you and learn from the books of the old masters and tell us about the auspiciousness of the surroundings.
I lost my parents when I was young, never learned to read, and therefore never saw a book, and even when I heard the contemplative law from a master, I disliked to listen to the worthless words of the saints of old, but a noble scholar in the city read to me the Three Precepts of the University three years ago. I was 47 years old when I heard it for the first time, and for the first time I understood the great virtues of the Sang-dharma. I realized that the way I saw it was the way to cleanse the body and rule the world, and so I began to speak auspiciously to gather the public and explain the way. Nowadays, I rarely invite people to talk about auspiciousness, but rather focus on food-based stories. This is because food is the basis of human misfortune, and it all starts with food.
Is it good to make offerings of food or wealth in order to accumulate yin or yang virtues?
It is wrong to do anything in the hope of any benefit. If there is life, there is death, and it is not sinful to kill out of necessity. And when it is necessary to save, it is natural to save, and there is no profit in this. To live and to die is the will of heaven. When you give, what can you say that you have accumulated virtue? Your wealth is the property of the heavens, not yours. The only thing we are born with in this world is food, so giving away food is the only way to truly accumulate virtue. However, it is not right to give away food after you have eaten enough for yourself, and you cannot be said to have given. If we eat an air of rice, it is virtuous to give half an air to others by cutting down on food and suppressing hunger. The person who always practices this is the one who truly cultivates virtue. In this, heaven, earth, and the sum of all things are full and overflowing. Such a person is blessed even in short life and poverty, and is free from all kinds of evil and ugliness, and has no enemies on all sides.
There's a release ceremony, where live birds and fish are collected and released after the monk recites the Tarama Sutra. I don't know about the release of birds and fish practiced by the higher-ups, but if the general public were to collect live birds and fish for release, would it be virtuous to release them? It would be difficult for them to live in a strange place, away from their original home. If you suddenly bring them to a bustling place and leave them unattended, they will feel even more uncomfortable and unaccustomed than they were before. Also, the animals that are released are all edible and not rats, dogs, snakes, etc. Birds and fish that are eaten by humans on a daily basis are the ones that are truly released.
Consider rice as an example. If you plant rice from a single grain, it will become thousands of grains in the fall, and if you collect hops, it will become an island, and if you collect hops, it will become hundreds or thousands of islands the next year. Even if you save one hop a day for three years, that's a lot of grain. It's no different than releasing fish every day. If you think of fish that have been spawned, the amount is incalculable. If this is not true release, what is it?
So far, you've only talked about food, but since food is a storehouse, and food is meant to nurture life, if you don't eat it, isn't that the opposite of harming life?
If you don't get enough food, you'll actually have a desire to eat, and even if you're alive, you'll be in the hell of the Agidō (one of the six directions, where those who are stingy with their wealth, greedy for food, or jealous of the time they have left, will go in death).
Even though food is meant for human consumption, binge eating and gluttony can kill you, just like overfeeding your crops can kill them.
Just as moderation in fertilizing crops helps them grow strong roots, moderation in food helps people live longer. Gluttony and gluttony are like shooting a bow at a bull's-eye with your own life as the target. This is because everyone's heart is small. If you are like me, your mind is so small that all you can think about is eating, that is the monkey path in front of you. It's no different from the human body. A four-legged beast wanders from place to place for days and nights, taking pleasure only in eating. If a man is like that, what is he if not a manifestation?
