Juehai Collection: Take a light on the world's laws

There is a metaphor in the Buddhist scriptures:

Once upon a time, there was a rich man who was stingy and stingy in his life, neither cultivating himself nor cultivating his mind.The rich man married four wives:

The fourth wife he loves the most is the fourth wife. They are loving and loving all day long and never separate.

The second is the third lady. The third lady is also very attractive to the rich man. When they meet, she makes the rich man happy and makes him feel sad when they part.

The second wife was the second wife. When they were poor, they fell in love very much, but when they were rich, the rich man gradually forgot about her.

The most unwilling thing for the rich is the original wife. She has done a lot of work, but she is not valued by the rich.

One day, when the rich man was seriously ill and was about to die, he called all four wives to the bed.

He said to his beloved fourth wife, "I treat you the best and can't leave you at all times. Now I'm about to die. I only have one wish, which is to hope that you will die with me, okay?”

When the fourth lady heard this, she flatly refused and said, "No matter how you love me, I still can't die with you."”

When the rich man heard her say this, he sighed deeply and made the same request to the third lady.When the third lady heard this, she was so scared that she trembled and immediately said, "This is not possible. I am so young. After you die, I can remarry someone else.”

When the rich man heard her say this, he sighed again and asked the second wife to die with him.When the second wife heard this, she shook her hand and said, “No!no!How can I die with you?But seeing that the couple had a relationship in the past, after you die, I can send you to the cemetery.”

The rich man had no choice but to sigh again, and had to turn to the eldest lady who usually ignores her and make the same request.When the eldest lady heard this, she was not surprised, but also said to him cautiously: "Marrying the husband and following him. Now that my husband is about to die, how can I still live as a wife? No matter how painful or happy you are, as long as you go there, I am willing to accompany you.”

The rich man was very surprised and sighed when he heard what the eldest lady said, "Oh!In the past, I didn't know that you were so loyal to me and forgot you. I loved the fourth and third ladies more than my life. I treated her well, and I am still very good at it. Today I am about to die. They all left me cruelly and refused to accompany me. I didn't expect that I didn't value you, so you would be with me forever.well!I really let you down, why didn’t I treat you well?”

After the rich man finished speaking, he hugged the eldest lady and the two died together.

In this metaphor, the fourth wife, who has never been separated, actually refers to our body.What every sentient being loves the most is his body. He dresses up beautifully every day, washes it cleanly, and takes great care of it. However, no matter how you care for your body, you must be separated from your body.

The third wife who wants to remarry again represents money and property.When all living beings have wealth, they are very happy, and once they lose money, they are extremely worried.No matter how hard you work hard to make money and accumulate property during your lifetime, it is absolutely impossible to own it after you die.After death, no matter how much wealth you have, you must give it to others and transfer it to others.

The second wife in the metaphor refers to a couple, father and son, brother, relative, friend, etc. who are destined to be with us.These people still have unfinished things in the world, so after you die, you will only send you to the cemetery with tears in your eyes. You can only say, "I walk alone in the thousands of mountains, so there is no need to send you off.”

The eldest lady who has never been valued represents her own heart.When I was alive, I didn’t know how to practice Buddhism and learned it. I was insatiable and only knew how to seek the five desires and increase my sins.After dying, you cannot take away everything, including property, house, family, relatives, etc., and what you can take away is just a black karma, and what you go in the direction is terrifying. The so-called "I can't take anything with you, only karma can be with you" means.

Therefore, whether a person is prosperous for a lifetime, prominent for a while, or is in a poor and miserable way, the most important thing is to seize the opportunity in this life, truly make a decision to study Buddhism and practice Buddhism well, and take worldly laws lightly.

To the reality of life, the joy of the five desires and dust is like passing clouds, and the wife and children are like passers-by. Therefore, we must be able to recognize the true nature of the world, see through, and let go, eliminate self-attachment, achieve ourselves, escape from life and death, and benefit sentient beings. This is the enlightened life.