Ancient Cultivation Stories
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Ancient Cultivation Stories: Escaping the Sea of Bitterness
2006-11-07
Niti was very embarrassed and said, "Buddha is noble and esteemed. Your followers are all princes from noble classes. I belong to the very lowest caste. How could I be compared to them? How would I have the good fortune of being able to join the temple and to escape from the sea of the bitterness?" -
Stories from Ancient China: Pursuing an Unfair Advantage Leads to Trouble; Life Without Virtue Is Lost
2006-10-18In the era of Kang Xi Xinhai during the Qing Dynasty, a married couple was irrigating the fields at the foot of Mt. Xielu in the Kunshan Mountains. Without warning, a thunderstorm started. There was a sudden clap of thunder, and the husband was struck by lightening and killed. People who knew him said that he had been a fairly honest person, and they did not understand why this had happened to him. -
Stories from Ancient China: Accumulating Virtue Brings Blessings While Losing Virtue Brings Misfortune
2006-10-17After waking up, he felt puzzled, so he told other people about this dream. One person said, "Isn't the (Chinese) character 'drunk' made up of two parts, Xin and You, and when combined, Xin and You indicate a specific year in the Chinese Lunar Calendar? It probably means that you will become the Number-One Scholar on the highest imperial exam in the year of Xinyou." -
Pursuit of Comfort: A Taboo for the Ancient Chinese People
2006-10-12Tao Kang, an official during the Jin Dynasty, moved 100 ceramic containers outside every morning and carried them back to the house every night. Others were curious and asked him why. He said, "I'm trying my best to work for the country. If I'm too comfortable, I'm afraid I cannot fulfil my responsibility well. Therefore I work out often." Later, he became governor of eight states and was very famous -
Ancient Cultivation Stories: You Are All Correct
2006-10-10Angrily the more senior disciple walked into the monk's room and asked, "Master, cultivators should have no attachment to anything in the mundane world. Honor or disgrace, gain or loss, right or wrong, good or evil, nothing can touch a cultivator's heart. This is the true meaning of cultivation. But the junior disciple doesn't agree with me. May I ask you, Master, whether my opinion is right or not?" -
Stories from Ancient China: True Friendship Requires Righteousness
2006-10-09When Kublai Khan (1215 – 1294), grandson of Genghis Khan and Khagan of the Mongol Empire, led the Mongol army to invade Song, Wen led the Song forces in defense. When Wen was captured by Kublai Khan and was faced with imminent danger; Zhang did what he could to help. Wen was escorted to Jizhou City, and Zhang secretly visited him. In tears, he told him, "Prime Minister, you will be sent to Yanjing City (present Beijing). I will go with you." -
Stories from Ancient China: Changing One's Fate by Accumulating Virtue
2006-10-08He thought, "I'm decreed by fate to be poor. I sought refuge with the Wang family, but was driven out because I would bring bad luck to the household. How could I have the good luck to enjoy this good fortune? Also, the owner of the the silver might have needed it in case of an emergency and might have left it here by accident. This silver may have a bearing on several lives. If I take it, I could be something that damages my virtue. I'd better wait here, so that if someone comes back to look for it, I will give them back." Having had these thoughts, he just waited there for the owner -
Stories from Ancient China: Good and Evil Comes from One's Spontaneous Thought; Karmic Retribution is Always Just
2006-09-30Yuan gave up on the thought of getting the 300 pieces of silver back. It was close to the Chinese New Year. He begged Miu to loan him some money so that he could get through the Chinese New Year. In order to get rid of Yuan, Miu promised to deliver some money to his home on New Year's Eve. The day before the Chinese New Year, Yuan waited at home from dawn to evening, but Miu did not show up. All the neighbours lit their lanterns and were excitedly preparing for the New Year. But Yuan's family had nothing. His wife wept. They were in misery. -
Stories from Ancient China: Earning Respect Through Tolerance
2006-09-26Once, there was a man named Huang Xian, (or Shudu) living in Runan County, Shenyang District during the Eastern Han Dynasty. His family was not well off and his father made a living as a veterinarian. Even though Huang Xian was a poor and lowly person, he gained the respect of top officials, famous intellectuals, and others due to his knowledge, superior moral character, and especially because of his extraordinary tolerance. -
Stories from Ancient China: Virtues Accumulated for Trading Fairly
2006-09-14Huang Jianji told Zhang Yong, "I haven't done many meaningful deeds. I bought some wheat at the regular price when it was ripe. The following year, I sold it at the original price to the poor farmers before their wheat was ripe. I didn't make money when I bought and sold the wheat. The weight of the wheat was the same. I didn't lose anything but I helped those poor people." -
Stories from Ancient China: A Straightforward and Highly Tolerant Man
2006-09-13Han Qi possessed great tolerance and a natural disposition to be simple and honest. He never resorted to the use of sly tricks. He accomplished a great deal and had a high position in society, but he was never prideful. No matter how important the responsibilities he held and whatever unexpected disasters and dangers he faced, Han Qi never seemed to be worried. -
Stories from Ancient China: Just and Unjust—The Story of a Good Girl
2006-09-10When the villagers celebrated the building of the bridge, they all felt sad for the good girl—although poor, crippled, and blind—who had inspired it all. The little girl did not feel sad for herself, however. She smiled broadly, showing genuine happiness for the villagers. -
Ancient Cultivation Stories: The Real Tang Monk in History
2006-09-01Journey to the West is one of the most famous works of classical Chinese literature. In the book, Tang Monk led his three disciples to the Western Paradise and achieved Consummation after experiencing a lot of troubles and difficulties. Some people regard it as been purely fictional. In history, there was a real Tang monk who risked his life and travelled tens of thousands of miles from China to India to bring Buddhist scriptures back to China. The journey he took was also the cultivation process of a cultivator who was eventually able to let go of life and death. -
Ancient Cultivation Stories: Cultivating Blessings Versus Cultivating Wisdom
2006-08-25There were two people who followed the same master but, because of the difference in their understandings, they each had a different way of cultivation. They kept their cultivation to themselves and didn't interfere with the other. The older disciple concentrated on cultivating blessings and did not pay much attention to cultivating wisdom, and the younger disciple only emphasized the cultivation of wisdom while not paying attention to the cultivation of blessings -
Ancient Cultivation Stories: Becoming A Monk
2006-08-24Among all the disciples of the Buddha, Maha Kasyapa was generally acknowledged as an ascetic (a person who renounces material comforts and leads a life of austere self-discipline). Since he was a child, he preferred to be alone and stayed away from crowds. He was extremely smart and sensible. Although he was born into a rich family, he was never accustomed to the luxurious life
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