[ENG SUB] 传达命运的石头们

Hello, listeners! Welcome to the “Divine Culture” program on Minghui Radio. During the Tang Dynasty, Monk Bianji displayed a noble and lofty character from a young age. He possessed an extraordinary presence and entered monastic life at the age of fifteen. As an assistant to Master Xuanzang in translating Buddhist scriptures, he was highly talented and widely learned. He gained fame for helping Xuanzang compile *Records of the Western Regions of the Great Tang*. Later, he was exposed for secretly keeping an imperial pillow given to him by Princess Gaoyang. Emperor Taizong of Tang suspected that Princess Gaoyang and Monk Bianji were engaged in an illicit affair Enraged, he issued an edict ordering Bianji’s execution, and Bianji was beheaded in the marketplace The successor in whom Xuanzang had once placed such high hopes was destroyed in an instant because of lust Above the character for “lust” (色) hangs a knife People today do not take “lust” seriously yet it is a sharp sword that destroys lives As the ancients said, “Avoid lust as you would avoid an arrow”—and this is no exaggeration Promoting obscene works is a crime During the Qing Dynasty, there was a scholar named Gao, who excelled at painting Around the Qingming Festival, many people flew kites The kites were adorned with all sorts of beautiful designs Gao painted his own kite and depicted erotic images on it While flying the kite, fire suddenly rained down from the sky Seeing the fire falling from the sky, Mr. Gao hurriedly ran to take cover But the flames seemed to have eyes of their own, chasing after him They burned him so severely that his face was completely disfigured Any sensible person knows: Mr. Gao was disfigured by heavenly fire because he painted obscene designs Today, the internet, calligraphy and painting, newspapers, media, sculptures, video games, movies, television, and countless other forms of media are riddled with a vast amount of obscene poison Its spread is so widespread and the depth of the harm it inflicts s incredible Some even appear blatantly in pub;ic cloaked in the glamorous guise of art Driven by unscrupulous self-interest People are deeply mired in it, taking great pleasure in it and have become numb and callous The Communist Red Demon has destroyed China’s traditional culture and uprooted the seed of goodness from people’s hearts That is why we see all manner of anti-divine and blasphemous words and deeds, sexual perversions , demonic art, the pornography industry, gambling, drugs, and more becoming the norm People lost in this confusion have come to regard these things as their own thoughts and desires Consequently, humanity’s sense of right and wrong, good and evil, has been drastically skewed, distorted, and turned upside down The world and its people stands on the brink of destruction yet remains oblivious Huang Shanggu (Tingjian), a renowned poet of the Song Dynasty was fond of writing erotic poetry He once went to pay his respects to Zen Master Yuantong Xiu Zen Master Xiu rebuked him, saying, “A true man’s mastery of the brush and ink be squandered on such things? ” This was Master Xiu’s admonition to Li Boshi, the painter of horses Shanggu laughed and said, “Am I to fall into the belly of a horse as well? ” Master Xiu replied, “Boshi’s obsession with horses led him to be reborn as a horse—that is merely his own affair But when you write erotic poetry you stir up the lustful desires of all people in the world. Such a sin is not merely a matter of falling into the belly of a horse I fear the hell of Niri awaits you.” Upon hearing this, Huang Shangu was seized with fear and, filled with shame, took his leave and never picked up a brush again. *The Plum in the Golden Vase*, classified in ancient times as an obscene text, caused the descendants of its author, Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng, to be mute for three generations. His descendants were all good-for-nothing, mediocre and lowly, and the line died out after five generations. The act of disseminating pornographic material is a grave sin It stirs up the lustful desires of all under heaven causing people’s vibrant energy to be wasted in lewdness and leading them to lose their way in the mundane world The karmic retribution generated by those who poison the masses through such dissemination will also return to them thereby harming their own careers and shortening their lifespans and bringing misfortune upon their descendants Fox spirits will come across generations to avenge the humiliation An ancient saying goes: “One may deceive people, but one cannot deceive Heaven.” Heaven is just and impartial, governing the retribution for good and evil Those who do good receive blessings; those who do evil receive retribution Senior Yang Huaiting of Jimo said There was a young man in Jining who was haunted by a fox spirit They slept together every night By the time the young man was in his twenties the fox spirit still sought him out night after night Someone advised the young man to grow a beard, but as soon as it grew slightly longer the fox spirit would shave it off while he slept and even apply makeup to his face His family repeatedly invited monks and Taoist priests to use talismans and incantations to drive away the fox spirit but none of it worked Later, Master Zhengyi was passing through Jining by boat and the young man wrote a letter begging the Master to intervene The Master sent an official document to the City God and the fox spirit came to the Master of its own accord to tell her story The fox said, “In my previous life, I was a woman and this young man was a monk One night, as I was passing by a temple, he abducted me and locked in a dark chamber within the temple where I endured humiliation in silence for seventeen years, until I finally died of despair After my death, I brought my case before the Underworld Court The Underworld Court ruled that after this monk had served his sentence in hell he must repay his debt in his next life During this time, after I was reborn, I committed other sins and was reborn as a fox I lived in the mountains and forests for over a hundred years but was unable to encounter him Now I have cultivated my form and it so happens that the monk has been reborn in this life as this young man so I have come to seek revenge Once the seventeen years are up, I will leave of my own accord without needing anyone to drive me away After hearing this, the Taoist Master took no further action regarding the matter When a person commits evil deeds and incurs karmic debt, they must repay it themselves No one can change that No matter how many reincarnations one undergoes, one cannot escape the consequences of one’s sins In the end, it must still be repaid The Thousand-Year-Old Taoist Struggles with Lust and Brings About His Own Downfall The old Taoist had practiced in the mountains for over six hundred years and had never set foot in the mortal world. He came down the mountain to treat the county magistrate’s daughter. Seeing how beautiful she was, he lost control and harbored evil intentions. Using a spell of invisibility, he sneaked into her bedchamber to commit an indecent act, which brought about his own death. During the Tang Dynasty, in Tan Prefecture (Miyun County), there was a county magistrate surnamed Wu. He had a young daughter, about sixteen or seventeen years old, She had grown into a graceful young woman, and her beauty was so striking it could topple a kingdom She was the most beautiful woman in the county That year, the Wu family’s daughter suddenly fell ill and took to her bed She remained unconscious, and many renowned doctors were summoned to treat her They tried every possible remedy, but nothing worked Later, they invited an old Taoist priest from the mountains north of Miyun County The old Taoist prescribed a remedy for the young lady Two days after she took the medicine, she was completely cured Magistrate Wu expressed his deepest gratitude to the Taoist priest and offered him a great deal of gold and silver but the old Taoist refused on the spot To express his gratitude Magistrate Wu invited the Taoist to stay at his home for a month However, after only a few days the young daughter of the Wu family would lie down in her bedchamber each night and, in a daze, feel someone enter her canopy and embrace her This happened for more than ten consecutive days The young daughter of the Wu family told her mother about this! So Magistrate Wu had his servants move his daughter’s bed into the room next to his own and dug a small hole in the wall to watch. In the middle of the night on the third day, Magistrate Wu suddenly saw the canopy over his daughter’s bed being lifted. He rushed forward, seized the man, and brought him to the main hall of the house for questioning. To his surprise, it was none other than the old Taoist from North Mountain! The old Taoist was filled with remorse and wept, “It seems this old Taoist was destined for this calamity! Alas! Come to think of it, this old Taoist is about to turn a thousand years old. Although I’ve passed the test of gold and silver, I ultimately failed the test of beauty. My cultivation is still insufficient! Today, my life ends here—do with me as you will!” Magistrate Wu was filled with rage and ordered his men to take the Taoist out and behead him. For spiritual practitioners, renouncing desire is of utmost importance. Whether it is to achieve a healthy body or to unblock all the meridians it requires energy to sustain it A cultivator who fails to renounce lust is like trying to cook rice with sand Although the sand may be heated, it remains sand and cannot become rice A hundred years of life pass in the blink of an eye The death of the physical body is not the true death of life The primordial spirit will still undergo reincarnation Only by guarding that true intention in one’s heart can one renew one’s predestined opportunities Avoid sensual temptation as you would avoid an arrow Many people originally had bright futures but because they harbored lustful thoughts or engaged in lewd acts not only did they lose their reputation and success but they also spent the rest of their lives in abject misery—a truly regrettable fate; there are also those who reformed and turned over a new leaf, thereby receiving blessings During the Ming Dynasty, there was a man named Lü Qing who habitually enjoyed discussing obscene matters and peeping at women By the age of thirty, he had fallen into extreme poverty His two sons died one after another. One day, Lü Qing suddenly died of a heart attack. It turned out that his deceased grandfather had earnestly pleaded with the King of the Underworld to temporarily detain him in the underworld so he could see for himself. With indignation, his grandfather said to him, “Our family has accumulated virtue over two generations. You were destined to possess immense wealth. Yet, to my surprise, you are obsessed with beauty, and your words and deeds are all sinful. Your blessings are nearly exhausted. I fear you might actually commit the evil act of sexual misconduct. If that happens, there will be no hope for the descendants of our Lü family!” Lü Qing defended himself, saying: “I know that committing adultery with another’s wife or daughter will result in the extinction of my lineage. That is why I limited myself to merely talking about it or peeping. I have not actually committed any substantive wrongdoing.” The underworld official standing beside him told him: “Whenever a person harbors lustful thoughts of sexual misconduct, commits a grave offense; the celestial gods will record and report it truthfully without concealing or omitting a single thought or intention. The laws of the mortal world are too lenient, while the laws of the underworld are far more severe. After a while, the ghostly guards brought in many people who had committed the sin of sexual misconduct for the King of the Underworld to pass judgment. Hearing that some had become beggars, mad, or mute as a result, some had become prostitutes or gone blind, and others had been reborn as oxen for two lifetimes, and others as pigs for ten lifetimes—Lu Qing was terrified to the core The underworld official told him there were even more severe punishments Never, under any circumstances, should one crave momentary pleasure at the cost of losing one’s human form One should avoid sensual temptation as one would avoid an arrow After Lu Qing was released back to the mortal world, he devoted himself to doing good deeds and recorded everything he had seen and heard in the underworld in writing to serve as a warning to the living Ten years later, his fate finally changed He had two sons in succession and became extremely wealthy, amassing a fortune of ten thousand guan Lu Dongbin once told his disciples: “If one does not commit sexual misconduct in a past life one will achieve the highest honors and attain a prominent position in this life, bringing glory to one’s ancestors.” If someone in this life remains chaste and refrains from sexual desire they will not only receive blessings in this life but also influence their next life Thank you for listening to today’s Minghui Radio program on Divine Culture We’ll see you again at the next broadcast