PureInsight | April 23, 2006
[PureInsight.org] Zhang Liang
was the chief strategist of Liu Bang, the founding Emperor of the Han
Dynasty. He was a great man. When he was young, one day he was playing
on a bridge. An old man came by and deliberately dropped his shoe over
the bridge, and he told Zhang Liang, "Young man, go down the bridge and
fetch my shoe." Zhang Liang went down under the bridge and
brought back the shoe without any hesitation. Surprisingly, the old man
extended his foot and said, "Put it on." Zhang Liang brought the shoe
over and kneeled down to put the shoe on. The old man then said, "Young
man, you can be taught. You meet me here, five days from now at dawn."
On the fifth day, Zhang Liang came to the bridge at dawn, but the old
man was already there. The old man was very angry, "When you meet
an elder, you are late, why?" Before the old man left, he told Zhang
Liang to come earlier five days later. When Zhang Liang got up at the
first crowing of the roosters and went to the bridge, the old man beat him
to it again. The old man said angrily and asked him to come again at
dawn five days later. This time, Zhang Liang went to the bridge
at midnight. Soon the old man came. The old man said pleasantly, "This
is the way it should be," then he took out a book and gave it to Zhang
Liang. "Study this book and you will be the emperor's teacher.
You should achieve your goal in ten years, and meet me in Jibei in
thirteen years. I am the yellow stone rock at the Valley City Hill."
The book Zhang Liang received was "The Esteemed Father Art of War."
Zhang Liang studied it thoroughly and indeed became the emperor's
teacher.
The Yellow Stone Old Man intentionally dropped his shoe and ordered
Zhang Liang to fetch the shoe and put it back on him. When he told
Zhang Liang to meet him at dawn, he got angry when he was early and
Zhang was on time. In addition, he scolded Zhang Liang harshly. All
that is beyond the tolerance of ordinary people. Zhang Liang said
nothing and quietly fulfilled the old man's requests. Zhang Liang was
an everyday person, but he could bear the irrational behavior of an old
man in stride. That is why that he could accomplish so much in life.
Today, what a Dafa disciple wants to achieve is not just being a great
person but being a great Buddha. We must behave much better than Zhang
Liang, and that should be our responsibility. In this way we will
not betray our Master's compassion in picking us up from hell.
How can we become intolerant when we hear unfavorable remarks, and
refuse to allow others to point out our mistakes? If someone points out
our mistakes, we try our best to cover up, make excuses and even
explode. Is that the way a Dafa disciple should behave? How can we
become a great Buddha with behavior like that? How do we face our
Master who has enormous compassion and offers us salvation? How do we
face our thousand years of yearning and the countless sentient beings
who are waiting for us to save them?
Master said, "Be sure to pay heed! From this point on, whoever can't
take criticism is not being diligent, whoever can't take criticism is
not displaying the state of a cultivator, or at least on this issue. (Applause)
If someone still can't pass this test, I'll tell you, he is in a very
dangerous situation, because for a cultivator this is the most
fundamental thing, it's at the top of the list of things to eliminate,
and it has to be eliminated.
If you don't get rid of it, you won't achieve Consummation. Don't let
it become that it's ordinary people doing the work of Dafa disciples.
You want to achieve Consummation, not good fortune." (from "Teaching
the Fa in the City of Los Angeles, 2006")
We must remember what Master said and we must pay attention
to that. Otherwise, we will become everyday people and our one thousand
years of yarning and waiting will be in vain.
Translated from:
http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2006/4/12/36447.html
