PureInsight | March 26, 2013
[PureInsight.org] General Dwight Eisenhower served as the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during World War II. One day, Mr. Eisenhower, together with his entourage, was in a hurry driving back to the military headquarters in France to attend an emergency meeting. It was a very cold winter day, heavy snow flakes fell from the sky, and bone chilling cold wind swept across the continent.
Suddenly, almost as if out of nowhere, Mr. Eisenhower noticed an old French couple sitting along the roadside, their bodies shivering in the cold. Mr. Eisenhower immediately asked to stop and wanted to dispatch his French interpreter to inquire about the situation. One staff officer quickly reminded Mr. Eisenhower: “We must hurry so that we can get to the meeting in on time. Let’s hand this issue over to the local police force.” As a matter of fact, even the staff officer himself knew what he had just uttered was just an excuse to make Mr. Eisenhower ignore the old couple in the cold.
Mr. Eisenhower, however, insisted, and said: “If we wait for the local police force, it might be too late. This elderly couple could freeze to death before they come.” After talking with the couple, Mr. Eisenhower learned that they were on their way to Paris to see their son. Their car had stalled on the way, and now, they had no resources whatsoever to help them out of the cold.
Mr. Eisenhower asked the couple to get on in his car right away. The Supreme Commander didn’t think too much about his own profile. He didn’t show any condescension towards the miserable couple, he was simply following his own innate compassionate human nature to reach out to those in need. Mr. Eisenhower then changed his route in order to take the couple to their son in Paris first, before driving on to the military headquarters.
Later, it turned out that Mr. Eisenhower’s unplanned detour saved his life! The Nazis had already gotten the intelligence that Mr. Eisenhower would be on his way to the meeting, and they knew the exactly the route that Mr. Eisenhower would take. The Nazis had placed snipers at certain intersections to waiting for Mr. Eisenhower to come in order to assassinate him. Hitler was determined to eliminate Mr. Eisenhower that day. As it turned out, Mr. Eisenhower’s kind deed thwarted the Nazi’s’ plan to kill him. Hitler was disheartened and blamed his intelligence agents for the failure. He never realized that it was Mr. Eisenhower’s own kind intent to help others that had made Mr. Eisenhower change his route and thus escape from the possible fatal encounter. It is yet another clear manifestation that Heaven will bless those who are virtuous and kind-hearted.
Some historians have commented that Mr. Eisenhower was diverted from an assassination attempt simply due to his own kind heart. If Mr. Eisenhower had been killed at that time, the whole history of the World War II would have been completely different.
Performing good deeds is different from drawing a check from one’s check bank account. In the bank of virtue, one’s virtue capital will increase more as one performs more good deeds. So, it’s been said that a person’s kindness and virtue is like a reservoirs of gold that can never be depleted. When you are helping others, you are actually helping yourself. Just like what the ancient Chinese people said: “Blessings comes from one’s virtue, damnation rises from one’s evil.” This story gives proof to this Chinese saying.
One’s kind thoughts, however, do not arise out of nowhere. One must keep cultivating oneself, and continuously keep accumulating kind thoughts. Only by doing so, can one make compassionate decisions on the spur of the moment. So, why don’t we start now? Let’s all begin cultivating our minds, and developing kindness in our hearts. As time goes on, we can rest assured that we will accumulate tremendous virtues and enjoy blessings from Heaven.
However, nowadays, there are people who always regard themselves as superior to others. They think that their time is much more important than that of others. Even when there is an urgent need for help, such people remain indifferent, or try their best to avoid helping or taking responsibility for those in need. In the end, these people may have accumulated lots of wealth; however, their balance in the bank of virtue is appallingly small. How can one expect such a person to be blessed? How can one expect such a person to avoid a coming disaster? Especially all those government officials in China today who are still carrying out a brutal persecution against innocent Chinese people due to their practice of Falun Gong and their belief in “Zhen Shan Ren”. If these Chinese officials don’t stop what they are doing right now, they will definitely regret it once disasters fall upon them. When one is harming others, he is doing harm to himself. When one is helping out others, he is also helping himself out. I’d like to shout to those brutal Chinese officials, “Stop what you are doing now, and start accumulating more virtue for yourselves.”
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/node/114978
