PureInsight | September 19, 2007
[PureInsight.org] Yang You was born in Tai Shan, his style name was Shu Zi. He was a renowned official in the Western Jin Dynasty.
When Yang You was five, he asked his nanny to bring his previous ring.
The nanny asked: "You did not have a ring before, so where can I get it?"
Yang You replied: "I lost it while I was near the eastern wall and dropped it into the mulberry woods."
The nanny said: "If that is true, you can look for it yourself."
However Yang You said: "This house is not the one in which I used to
live." Then he went out the door and headed east and the nanny had to
follow him.
After a while, they arrived at a house that belonged to the Li family.
Yang You went to the woods near the eastern wall and found the ring.
The Li family was very surprised: "My son had this ring before and
liked to play with it. However, he died suddenly when he was seven. We
did not know where the ring was after he died. This belonged to my dead
son, so why are you taking it away?"
Yang You insisted on taking the ring so the Li family asked about
the reason. The nanny repeated what Yang You said before they went
there. The Li family felt sad as well as surprised and wanted Yang You
to be their son. However after persuasion, they gave up the proposal.
When Yang You grew up, he got gout. The doctor asked about the cause
and tried to find the cure. Yang You said that three days after he was
born, his head was facing the northern window and he felt the wind blow
over his head, so he got gout. Since it had been so long, the doctor
could not get it under permanent control.
Later Yang You became the General in Jing Zhou and guarded Xiang Yang.
He was very honest and upright and also was diligent in his duty, which
gained massive respect from the populace. Yang You also provided funds
to the Wudang Temple to build up nice temples. When the monks asked
about the reason, he kept silent. Later, Yang You confessed in front of
the Buddha that he committed many wrong doings in his previous lives,
so he financed the building of temples to worship the Buddha in order
to get moksa from his sins.
Translated from:
http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2007/9/8/48214.html
