PureInsight | December 27, 2009
[PureInsight.org] In both the East and the West, traditional culture tells people a truth: indulging sexual desire will be injurious to one's health and lead to evil conduct. Many people in history had their careers or futures ruined because of being lustful.
Today, I want to tell everyone a story about a monarch in the Chunqiu Period (777-476 BC) who invited a huge disaster because of his lustful desire.
Cai Aihou was the feudal lord of the State of Cai and a distant relative of the Zhou Emperor. Cai Aihou was a lustful person. He married the eldest daughter of the Lord of Chen. Lord Chen’s second daughter, Xigui, married the Lord of Xi, which bordered the State of Cai. It is said that Xigui was very beautiful.
Xigui returned to the State of Chen to visit her parents after her marriage. When she passed by the Cai state, Lord Cai welcomed her to his palace and ordered a banquet in her honor. Carried away by Xigui's beauty, Lord Cai lost himself in lustful thoughts. His manner and language were frivolous and he did not maintain proper respect for her. He completely forgot about the proper manner of treating guests. Xigui was naturally not happy. On her return trip back to Xi, she chose a route around the border of the State of Cai and avoided stopping in Cai.
Upon returning home, she told her husband Xihou about Lord Cai's lascivious manners. Lord Xihou was very angry after listening to her account and decided to retaliate. He thus dispatched an envoy to offer tributes to the Lord of Chu. The envoy incited Lord Chu by saying, “Chu is a wealthy and strong state and all the lords submit to your rule. But Lord Cai relies on his power and is unwilling to serve you. If Your Lord pretends to attack our state, we will seek help from Cai. If Lord Cai comes to our rescue, we’ll coordinate our army with yours and attack Cai on both sides. We will be able to defeat Cai's army and capture Lord Cai. At that time, he will submit to your rule. Lord Chu liked the plan and thus sent his army pretending to attack Xi. Lord Xi thus asked for Lord Cai’s help as planned. When Lord Cai personally led his army to rescue Xi, both the Xi and Chu armies joined forces and defeated Cai's army in Xinye and captured Lord Cai. Lord Cai realized that he had fallen into the Lord Xi's trap and vowed revenge.
Later, Lord Chu set Lord Cai free. At the time of his departure, Lord Cai told Lord Chu that Xigui had the utmost beauty. Upon hearing this, Lord Chu acquired lustful thoughts. He thus led his soldiers to Xi under the pretense of making an inspection tour. Lord Xi held a banquet to entertain him in the palace. During the banquet, Lord Chu asked to have Xigui attend the banquet for a special toast. Lord Xi was fearful of Lord Chu's prestige and dared not refuse him. He thus allowed Xigui to join the banquet. Lord Chu was awestruck by Xigui's beauty. On the following day, Lord Chu held a banquet in his guesthouse as a reciprocating courtesy. He then secretly sent in troops for an ambush. When Xigui attended the banquet, he abducted her and brought her back with him to Chu and honored her as the Lady of the Lord.
During her three years in Chu, Xigui was cold mannered and rarely spoke. When Lord Chu asked her the reason for this, Xigui said tearfully, “I am a woman who is forced to serve two husbands. How do I have the face to talk to others?” She couldn't help but keep weeping. To please her, Lord Chu said, “It is all Lord Cai’s fault. Don't be sad. I will get revenge for you.” He thus sent his army to attack Cai. Lord Cai knew he couldn’t stand up to the attack and surrendered in disgrace. Lord Chu didn't release him this time, and Lord Cai died in Chu's prison nine years later.
Lord Cai had lustful thoughts after seeing Xigui’s beauty and took liberties with her that caused him the first disaster of being captured. But he still didn't realize that it was his lust that had brought him disaster. Instead, out of a mind of revenge, he did his best to stir up Lord Chu's lust to induce him to attack Xi. Cai didn’t anticipate that this would ultimately cause Lord Chu to once again attack Cai in order to please Xigui, which would lead to him once again becoming a prisoner of Chu and bring upon himself the fatal disaster of dying in Chu's prison. It can be seen that whether it is one's own lust or instigating other's lustful thoughts, this will eventually bring disaster to oneself. Our forefathers said, “People who are fond of lust think it will give them happiness, but what they don't know is that this happiness is only for a short time, but the suffering from it is for a lifetime.” This is truly how it is.
Let us look at what happened to Lord Xi. Due to his personal bitterness and seeking revenge, he led Cai, Chu, and his own state to engage in wars, and he also suffered the disaster of losing his wife. Lord Chu seized another man's wife because of his lust. Fifteen years after he ascended the throne, he died from a sudden illness. Those feudal lords brought upon themselves great misfortunes because they indulged in lustful thoughts. People should not indulge lustful thoughts and become lost in them. To a cultivator, all the thoughts to do with lust must be eliminated.
Reference: Zuo Zhuan written in the Chunqiu Period
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2009/9/24/61738.html
