One's Fortune is Predetermined
Most people's lives are now largely centered around making money and enjoying pleasures. It's about experiencing both hardship and enjoyment. A person's good fortune is like a bank account; if you only take out and don't save, you'll eventually run out of funds. Without accumulating good deeds and blessings, if you only focus on enjoying life, when your blessings run out, all sorts of misfortunes will arise.
A few years ago, a sorcerer came to a certain place. People asked him to predict a person's fate. He asked, 'Does this person hold a government position?' The response was, 'If they don't hold a government position, they are still alive. If they do, they are already dead.' Sure enough, this man was a power plant station manager who had just died. Because his good fortune was small, when he held a minor official position, his fortune was depleted.
Many people desperately seek fame, but if it's not accompanied by real merits and good deeds, gaining fame doesn't necessarily bring good things. When good deeds and blessings are too small and cause a lot of excitement, they're likely to attract misfortune, and if the misfortune can't be overcome by fame, it will lead you to the underworld to pay the price.
In Tibet, an old woman recited 100 million heart mantras of Guanyin. She went around telling people about it, and later hired a khenpo to offer a back-vow. The khenpo said, 'Your good deeds are finished.' Why? Because so many people praised her, plus her self-praise, which spoiled the good deeds, so they were consumed.
Many people in the world want to become officials and engage in bribery and corruption, which is a foolish thing to do. Even if you have the blessings you should have, if you enjoy them excessively, it can bring misfortune. Besides, it's unnecessary to accumulate illicit gains.
He lost more misfortune and disaster than he gained illicit gains! It's simply unimaginable! Therefore, truly wise people would never do such a foolish thing as bribery.
As the saying goes, 'Suffering is good fortune.' For example, if someone is wrongly accused or defamed, if you remain calm and don't harbor resentment, you will eliminate the karmic debt, which is a blessing. If you harbor resentment, you will create new karma.
Our nation has a tradition of being thrifty and accumulating good fortune. For example, when eating, you should finish your food without wasting it, otherwise, your fortune will be depleted; you shouldn't use old items for new purposes, and vice versa. For example, don't use an old bucket for a dung bucket, don't use broken socks to wipe tables, and don't use hats to sit on. You should be filial to your parents and respectful to elders; Buddha statues and scriptures should be placed in higher, clean places. Conversely, if elders spoil their children, they will quickly consume their children's good fortune.
Many people like to celebrate children's or elders' birthdays lavishly, not realizing that this also depletes their good fortune. An elderly person who might live for ten years might only live for five years because of these celebrations.
Furthermore, when celebrating birthdays, you usually have to kill animals, and these karmic debts, besides the killers and the instigators, will naturally be borne by the deceased themselves. If this is done when a loved one dies, it directly pushes the deceased into the underworld's fire pit.
Many senior teachers have said: Don't keep ancestral bones or photos at home and worship them every day. Many people think that this will protect them, but they don't know that the ancestors themselves don't know where they've ended up. It's not good to worship them; instead, it can harm them. We can put small photos of ancestors under Buddha statues and offer wishes for them to be liberated from reincarnation.
Thus, we are actually offering for our ancestors, not offering to them. Storing ancestral bones in temples is also not good. It's best to mix the ancestral bones with soil and make immovable Buddha statues, and then invite senior teachers to chant and consecrate them. Afterwards, let's cast the Buddha statues into the sea. Doing this benefits the ancestors greatly. If you can't make Buddha statues, you should ask senior teachers to chant for the bones and then take the bones to a holy site to worship, and finally scatter them in a clean mountain or sea.
In the 'Hundred Arts Classic,' there's an example: When the Buddha was alive, a disciple named Luohan went to a place to spread the Dharma. Once, the king hunted and passed by, with his entourage. The Luohan didn't rise to greet him, and the king was very unhappy. When the king went hunting, he made a wicked vow: 'I will go back, and if he's still that way, I'll cut off his head.' The Luohan knew the king had made a wicked vow, so he walked six steps forward to greet the king. At that time, the earth cracked open suddenly, and the king's figure disappeared immediately. The king was very frightened and immediately worshipped the Luohan and apologized. The earth closed, and the king's figure reappeared. The Luohan said, 'Your life is safe, but because I greeted you six steps, you will lose your throne in six months, but because you apologized, you will regain your throne.' It came true later. The king had great merit, and even he was affected by the Luohan's greeting, so if a person without great merit, he might not be able to keep his life.
If you don't have great merit, you should start cultivating good fortune now. It's not too late; if your destiny is not good, you can change it. If your merit is great, take advantage of the opportunity and do some negative deeds. For example, forward and share articles like this to encourage kindness and purification. This will create a continuous flow of good fortune, forming a virtuous cycle. This is a rational and realistic thing; whether you believe it or not, truly fortunate people understand that they should enjoy good fortune while accumulating it. Remember to accumulate real happiness capital for your life, and then everything will come from it. Furthermore, this will also make you more relaxed and happy, not disturbed by external changes.
