PureInsight | February 13, 2006
[PureInsight.org] I have been
living in the United States for nearly 20 years. I have met countless
numbers of people here. Everywhere I went, I would occasionally meet
some people that I just felt like saying hi to or chatting with
impulsively. I cannot explain where the impulse comes from. I guess
those people are the ones that I had known in my previous lives.
In the sea of people, I met Anna from Taiwan one day. Besides Chinese
cuisine, I love Japanese cuisine best. Once a friend took me to an
excellent Japanese restaurant, which Anna owns. Anna is an amiable and
warm person. All the guests of her restaurant feel that she treats them
as her family members. As soon as we met, we feel like we were the
oldest of friends. Before I left, we gave each other our phone numbers
and soon became dearest friends.
I don't know anyone who has a completely worry-free life. Anna may be a
successful restaurant owner and the object of envy for many of her
friends, but her first marriage was unsuccessful. After the divorce,
she met another man. They have been together for a long time, but they
have a lot of issues. They don't want to end the relationship, but they
know they shouldn't get married, either. It broke my heart to see her
suffering, so I offered to hypnotize her and see what we could find.
She agreed to give it a try. To the surprise of us both, the hypnosis
did not reveal the relationship between her boyfriend and her in their
previous lives. Instead, it revealed the relationships between Anna and
myself in our previous lives.
First she entered the Roman Empire era. She saw the ancient Roman plaza
on a beautiful sunny day. A graceful and angelic young Italian maiden
about 18 years old was feeding pigeons on the plaza. Large flocks of
pigeons were eating out of her palms with delight. It looked as though
they would never be full. When I asked Anna who the beautiful young
maiden was, she said I was the beautiful young maiden. I was shocked. I
had thought it was Anna. Next to her stood a little girl about six
years old. She was an orphan and adopted by the young maiden. When I
asked Anna who the little girl was, Anna said it was she.
All they had were each other. During countless nights, the young maiden
sewed clothes and bed linens for the little girl. During countless days
and evenings, she baked delectable Italian pizzas for the little girl.
Many years later, the "Italian maiden" became a middle-aged spinster,
but she aged gracefully. She was often dressed in a long black skirt
that touched the ground and wore a black silk veil. She had the air of
a noblewoman. She was a spinster throughout her life and devoted her
life to looking after the orphan girl. Many years later, this elegant
and kindhearted Italian woman got old. She was frail and prone to
illness. The doctor often came to her household. The little girl had
fully grown. She was very worried that the only family she had known
might die and leave her. She sat by the old lady's bedside, giving her
the best care she could provide. She begged the doctor to do his best
to save her life. Finally, the kind lady passed away. The young girl
threw herself over her. She wailed aloud and shouted, "Please don't
leave me! Don't leave me! Because you loved me, you have given me
everything you could provide. I can never repay your love and your
sacrifice!" Her crying was heartbroken. That was the end of our
relationship in Italy in that life.
This story gave me a lot to think about. A review of each lifetime is
truly an inspiration and warning to those of us who are struggling to
survive in this life. Life is about learning, loving, selfless giving,
growth and elevation to a higher spiritual realm.
Next she entered a life during the Chinese Qing Dynasty (1616 – 1912
A.D.) when the tree peonies were in beautiful blossoms. She saw a scene
in one of the royal gardens. The empress dowager led the empress, a
group of the emperor's concubines and princesses to go see the tree
peony blossoms in the garden. The tree peony was the national flower of
China in ancient times. It is large, colorful and noble looking. The
Chinese people traditionally revere the tree peony as the king of all
flowers and regard it as the symbol of prosperity, peace and good
fortune. It was also a favorite among empresses and princesses in the
Chinese royal palace. It was sunny day in the royal garden. Spring
permeated the air. The empress dowager sat in the tree peony garden in
a black silk robe and wore a black pearl necklace. She had a majestic,
noble and refined air. The beautiful tree peony blossoms put her in a
pleasant mood. As a result, the solemn and rigid atmosphere typical to
the royal palace was much reduced. Although the empress dowager told
everyone to relax and forget about the formal manners and rules, the
empress, concubines, princesses and palace maids knelt down and
kowtowed to the empress dowager, except a little princess. She was
kneeling next to a white tree peony shrub on the left while looking up
to check out the empress dowager with a mischievous look on her face.
It turned out that this mischievous little princess was Anna during the
Qing Dynasty and the empress dowager was I!
I was amused as well as a little sad when Anna told me I was an empress
dowager in the Qing Dynasty. Who would have thought that an empress
dowager would become a part-time waitress in the United States in this
life? Perhaps the next homeless man you see on the streets of New York
might have been a king or a prince in a previous life.
Teacher said, "Virtue is accumulated in past lives. Becoming a king, an
official, wealthy, or nobility all come from virtue. No virtue, no
gain; the loss of virtue means the loss of everything." (From "Wealth
with Virtue" in Essentials for Further Advancement.)
Perhaps I became an empress in the Qing Dynasty because I had
accumulated a lot of virtue. Perhaps I have become a part-time waitress
in the present life because I had consumed too much virtue when I was
an empress and failed to use my power to look after my people or to
follow the Heavenly Law.
Translated from:
http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2005/4/9/31885.html
