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Pursuing an Unfair Advantage Leads to Trouble; Life Without Virtue Is Lost
By Qing Yan
(Clearwisdom.net) In 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. His wife sighed, "It is all because of eighteen pounds of meat!"
People were surprised to hear this and asked her what she meant. She said,
"Last winter, he went into town to pay the rent and taxes. As he docked his
boat by the bank of the river, he noticed that there was a piece of meat in an
empty boat. No one was there, so he picked up the meat and brought it home. He
weighed the meat, and it was about eighteen pounds. It turned out that the meat belonged to a rich family that lived by the
river. While the family maid was washing the meat, something distracted her that
caused her to leave the boat for a while. When she returned, she was not able to
find the meat anywhere. When the maid went home without the meat, the lady of
the house became very angry. She began beating the maid to punish her. She beat
the maid so severely, she accidentally killed her. Her husband became very
distressed over this and berated his wife, saying that her deed could bring the
entire family to ruin. The wife felt so terrible, she committed suicide by
hanging herself. My husband was struck by lightning all because of this." When they obtain ill-gotten wealth, people who do not know the truth might
think they have gained a big advantage. But it will, in fact, bring only trouble
to themselves and others. It is a case of losing virtue. What might seem to be a
small advantage could lead to big trouble. Is there not a valuable lesson in
this story? September 18, 2006 |