PureInsight | October 3, 2012
[PureInsight.org] It is extremely late at night. I am somewhat fatigued but do not want to sleep. I turn on my computer in the silence, unable to help my fingertips from typing away on the keyboard. These days, I keep envisioning an event that happened a long time ago, and every time I think about it, I remember that statement: “Heaven knows the human heart.”
On a morning after it had just rained, a quiet young lady came to my store. Once she left, I found an umbrella sitting on the counter while I was organizing my merchandise. It had to be that lady’s. I rushed out of the store, but the lady had already walked far off. I shouted loudly, “Your umbrella! Your umbrella…,” but the lady continued walking without looking back, slowly disappearing into the sea of people.
I helplessly returned to the store, and as my eyes drifted back towards that umbrella, I suddenly had a notion. “Maybe it’s a good thing that she forgot her umbrella. I’ll just leave it in this shop for public use.” For a split second, I thought that this notion wasn’t something a person with a belief would think, taking advantage of circumstances. Suddenly another notion surfaced: “If it rains and someone forgets an umbrella, as long as they put it back after using it, then it isn’t considered taking advantage of the circumstances.” This time, I didn’t give it a second thought.
That light gray colored umbrella remained on that counter waiting for its owner, but she never appeared. Many days went by like this.
On a heavily overcast afternoon, it started to pour just as I was about to run an errand. I happened to not bring my umbrella, so I grabbed the one on the counter in a hurry.
After I had finished running the errand, the rain started pouring even harder. I waited under the eaves of a nearby bus stop. When the bus arrived, I opened the umbrella and walked back into the rain. However before I could walk a few steps, the umbrella in my hand suddenly broke and collapsed like the falling petals of a flower. For an instant I was like a strain of grass being drenched by the torrential rain. I hurriedly picked up my pace, jogging and skipping until I reached the bus. When I sat down and looked at my wet clothes and then at that broken umbrella, I had a sudden realization. My initial selfish thoughts about keeping the umbrella had caused me to be drenched with rain.
After the owner had left the umbrella in the store, I had had a selfish notion to use it for my own convenience. How could I simply use something that wasn’t mine? “Heaven knows the human heart,” “Buddhas are present everywhere.” Every person’s every thought on earth is closely monitored by the gods, who then arrange the consequences. The unauthorized use of another person’s umbrella as a shield from the wind and rain had actually caused me to become completely exposed in the heavy downpour. Consequences for actions are truly omnipresent. Thus I thought, “Isn’t it this way for all tribulations in a person’s life?”
Traditional ancient Chinese culture says that there is a harmony between heaven and the human world. The human body corresponds to the universe and is in circulation with the universe. The universe embodies the principles of Zhen, Shan, Ren. Someone who accommodates these principles is going with the flow of the heavens. The ancient people said, “Those who follow heaven prosper, while those who deviate perish.” One whose thoughts follow Zhen, Shan, Ren will lead a smooth life, while those who deviate will have many ups and downs. If one person follows, an ethnic group, a country, or even the entire mankind will follow.
The night is cold as water. The moon outside the window is like the jade plate in Li Bai’s poem, emitting a faint light. I reflect as I write these words, wishing that my heart as well as everyone’s heart can wash away the dirt and become as bright and clean as the moon outside the window.
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/node/111800
