bookrandom Chapter 105 Respect for Every Person's Fate
Chapter 105 Respect for Every Person's Fate
A young woman dressed formally, presumably a civil servant working in a relevant government department, asked Lin Yue a question: "I want to ask Teacher Lin a question. It is said that people's fate is like something that has been planned by someone else. When people calculate their birth charts, they say that it feels like someone else has planned it for them. So how can we change our fate? Why is it that some people have made a lot of efforts but still can't change it?"
Lin Yue gave this answer: "Fate is something that is actually in your own hands. Let me tell you a short story."
A young girl lives in the countryside. She has healthy parents and brothers who love her dearly. Her parents never mistreat her or scold her, unlike some other rural families where girls are considered a burden and prevented from studying. She is well loved by her parents, and in the eyes of some spiritual practitioners, her destiny is to live a life of wealth and comfort, with no worries about food or clothing, and to achieve great things.
Okay, so she came from a rural area, worked her way up from a young girl, got into university, has a decent job, and a happy family. In the eyes of rural people, what is this girl like? They'd definitely say she has an exceptionally good life, right?
But in the eyes of outsiders, she was just an ordinary college student living in a big city. After graduation, she married a good man and lived a happy and fulfilling life.
Alright, the other little girl, she has always lived in the city, her parents are loving, her grandparents are highly educated, and her parents are also highly educated, her fate is also one of wealth and honor, she will live a life of wealth and worry-free, achieve great things, and be happy and fulfilled.
So think about it, this girl's starting point and the family she belongs to determine the good man she might meet, enter another circle of high society, and live a life that rural girls can't even imagine. The place where she lives will be better. She may have studied abroad, and even have many unexpected awards and degrees.
Okay, now compare her to that girl from the countryside. Don't you think that this girl is the chosen one, while the girl from the countryside is just ordinary? They have the same fate, so why are they different?
You're probably going to say that the gears of your destiny begin turning from the moment you're born into your mother's womb, because when you choose your mother in heaven, you decide the fate of your descendants. Then you can tell him, why don't children in rural areas have such good opportunities?
Yes, many people seize opportunities, while many others fail. You might say that many are destined to be beasts of burden for life. But the truth is, the difference in fate between people born on the same day, month, and year, or even those with slightly different birth times and zodiac signs, isn't as vast as you might imagine. Destiny charts don't predict everything. It's just that some people are exceptionally fortunate, failing to protect their destiny during their formative years. Some are poised to seize their opportunities, while others don't get into university.
He didn't seize the opportunity in the early part of his life, but he had a love for learning, which was reading. He kept expanding his horizons by reading books, and he was actually preparing for the opportunity to come.
Everyone has their own few particularly successful years.
You must be thinking that people who have studied will definitely have a very, very good life, right?
Not necessarily. Some people are just bookworms, like Kong Yiji who couldn't shake off his old clothes. After they've left home, whether it's work or life, they're self-righteous and can't break free from their own vicious cycle, unable to integrate.
But some people haven't read many books, yet they keep improving, keep reading, constantly expanding their horizons, and finding truth in practice. Perhaps their fate is very different from that of those who have read books.
You're probably going to ask whether it's better to read or not. I would definitely say it's better to read more. People who read more will have many more choices in life, such as their lifestyle.
Most of you who didn't go to school will likely lead ordinary lives, stuck at the very bottom. Only a small percentage will escape serfdom, find a benefactor to promote you, or encounter an opportunity to carve out your own niche—but those are few and far between.
On the contrary, those who have read more books have a much greater chance of meeting benefactors and seizing opportunities than someone who doesn't read much and has little education.
Others may have 10 opportunities, but you only have one or two. If you miss them, you miss them; if you seize them, you seize them. That's the difference between people.
As for fate, as long as you prepare yourself, accumulate strength, and seize the opportunity, you can achieve success.
But if you keep being lazy, you won't even notice opportunities coming your way, right?
Even without that vision, and without that awareness, one still needs to fill their head with knowledge, regardless of what kind of knowledge it is.
An elderly man dressed in a Tang suit asked Lin Yue a question. He exuded the air of someone in a superior position, while Lin Yue, on the contrary, radiated a kind and benevolent aura.
The old man asked, "Young friend Lin, yes, young friend, could you tell me if there is anything in this world that can grant immortality and extend human life?"
Lin Yue said, "Yes and no."
The old man asked, "How do I say this?"
"Some say that there are ordinary foods or spiritual flowers and fruits that are beneficial for longevity after consumption. For example, peanuts are also known as longevity fruits. In the eyes of ordinary people, eating more of them can prolong life and slow down aging."
You're probably wondering why there are spiritual flowers and herbs in the cultivation world that can prolong human life, but ordinary people can't use them. Why is that?
The reason is that cultivators have wider meridians, so these spiritual medicines can be absorbed and utilized by the body. On the contrary, ordinary people will explode and die as soon as they eat them.
You're probably going to say something like "both exist and don't exist".
"Some foods" refer to special foods among the ordinary foods we eat, drink, and excrete, which contain functions that can prolong life.
"No" means that even if you know which foods can prolong life, you might not follow the traditional Chinese medicine advice to maintain your health and live longer. Instead, you might think of taking some kind of miracle cure to prolong your life—that's impossible.
The old man said, "When I saw some practitioners chatting, they mentioned that when they were in seclusion in the mountains, they ate the resin that grows on trees and the powder from pine trees, which are said to have the effect of prolonging life. Is this true?"
Lin Yue said, "Actually, people nowadays are overnourished, which is why they gain weight. Occasionally fasting, which means not eating, can cleanse the body very quickly, making the whole body feel relaxed. This makes the mind react faster, and the body feels much lighter. It can also help people live longer!"
As for some practitioners who eat those two things, it's because where in the deep mountains and forests can they find food? Even if they are detached from worldly desires and have already abstained from grains, they still need their digestive system to function occasionally; they're not zombies that don't eat.
Some elderly people asked, "Do these two things really have the effect of prolonging life?"
Lin Yue said, "In the mountains, any part of the wildflowers, wild fruits, and wild trees that has not been polluted, as long as it is edible and non-toxic, can have the effect of prolonging life."
The old man asked, "Why do you make that judgment?"
Lin Yue said, "Because there are no poisonous plants in the mountains, and they are beneficial to the body, no matter what kind of flower or grass it is, they are all top-grade Chinese medicines, and almost all of them are beneficial to the body."
So you're saying that wildflowers and wild fruits in deep mountains and forests, as long as they're non-toxic and edible, are beneficial for health and longevity?
This incident also made Lin Yue want to vomit blood.
Before Lin Yue became a mother of three, she didn't know much about traditional Chinese medicine and didn't understand some of its intricacies.
After she began her own cultivation practice, the old man Huoyun Xianding gave her some medical books, as well as the "Compendium of Materia Medica" and other medical books she bought herself from a bookstore. Every medicinal ingredient was clearly described in the illustrations. She then discovered that the grass she had fed to pigs, cows, sheep, and even the grass she had gathered to feed chickens and ducks when she was a child was actually Chinese medicine. Moreover, the wildflowers and wild fruits she had picked as a child, the sweet and sour ones, were all top-grade Chinese medicines, and surprisingly, non-toxic. Ironically, Lin Yue, who grew up in the countryside and in the mountains, found herself in a new edition of the "Compendium of Materia Medica." The clear illustrations showed flowers, leaves, roots, and stems at a glance. She realized that everything she had played with and eaten every day while living in her hometown and raising her children was actually Chinese medicine, and almost everything she had consumed was also Chinese medicine, and almost all of it was among the top-grade Chinese medicines.
Then you might feel like you haven't read enough, haven't learned about herbs, and feel like a fool. But aren't people these days just as foolish? Without contacting or learning about them, even if there's a ginseng root right in front of you, you won't recognize it.
Therefore, the profoundness of traditional Chinese medicine is something that many young people today cannot understand, and many older TCM doctors have no successors to carry on their legacy.
Lin Yue remembers a classmate of hers when she was a child. His father was a traditional Chinese medicine doctor, and his older brothers, including herself, studied traditional Chinese medicine. However, as they studied, due to the rapid development of Western medicine, his older brother was admitted to a university that combined traditional Chinese and Western medicine, and his second brother was admitted to a Western medicine university abroad.
When he was in his senior year of high school, his father was afraid that he would not continue to study traditional Chinese medicine, so he cut off his path to the college entrance examination. Yes, the college entrance examination path. He did not allow him to take the exam. He was afraid that if his son went out to study, there would be no one to inherit his traditional Chinese medicine. So he kept his third son behind, did not let him take the exam, did not let him take the college entrance examination, and did not let him go to university. Instead, he took over his mantle and read a lot of medical books. There was a whole wall of medical books in their house, all kinds of medical books.
Lin Yue recalled that after her first period of seclusion, she had returned to her hometown. As far as she knew, the old Chinese medicine doctor's eldest son was now a director at a major hospital in the capital, and his second son had also achieved a high position at a large hospital in a coastal city. Only his youngest son remained quietly in the village, learning the old doctor's skills, and was also a renowned physician in the surrounding villages. Lin Yue had actually visited his home when she was around eighteen, accompanied by her aunt's sister-in-law. Looking back, if the old doctor had sent his youngest son to university or encouraged him to study traditional Chinese medicine, he probably wouldn't have stayed in the countryside or continued his medical practice. He didn't charge much, but his skills were exceptional. No hospital, large or small, in the surrounding villages or towns within a radius of fifty or sixty kilometers was as successful as his family. His family lived in a remote mountain valley, and because of their home, the mountain road was wide and flat, a two-way lane.
It's often said that nine out of ten Taoists are doctors, but how many people today understand why? Those who cultivate themselves will discover that at a certain level, they can achieve introspection. During introspection, they can see the points marked by traditional Chinese medicine practitioners on various acupoints within the body; these points illuminate during introspection. Ordinary people can't understand how pulse diagnosis can reveal ailments in various organs, but in reality, once you've cultivated that subtle energy, when you can take a pulse, you'll find that pulse diagnosis is incredibly simple, unlike traditional Chinese medicine practitioners who rely on the rise and fall, speed and weakness of the pulse to determine illness. Some Taoists can even discern illness at a glance—from the symptoms in your destiny, your facial features, your hand lines, even just a circulation around your body. Many people find this strange, but it's not. Each person is like a magnetic field, emitting faint ripples like a pebble dropped into water, imperceptible to us. Only during your own spiritual practice will you discover that everyone has a magnetic field, everyone emits a faint halo, but what color is your halo? Some people can discover that their children emit a faint white light, or a faint yellow light, or even a faint purple light at certain moments. Doesn't that seem a bit strange? Some people are even born with the ability to see the energy channels flowing through the body's meridians. These special individuals with special abilities actually live around us, but many of them keep it hidden. Why do they keep it hidden? What are the reasons for keeping it hidden? Even Lin Yue kept it hidden at first. Because if they didn't, ordinary people would think they had seen some kind of monster. But do monsters exist in this world? Yes, they do. So, when an ordinary person possesses certain abilities, but it's unacceptable to the public, then you should keep it hidden.
The old man then asked, "Why do you explain traditional Chinese medicine in this way?"
Lin Yue said, "Actually, I don't understand Traditional Chinese Medicine. You ask me why I know so much about it? Well, it's because I discovered it myself during my spiritual practice. The ancients described it very briefly, unable to express it clearly in modern language. I'm just expressing my own unique feelings and the facts I see in my eyes through the art of language. Anyone who is practicing, and reaches a certain level, can empathize with me, meaning they've reached the same level. Think about it, like between people, some people are already on the 18th floor looking at you on the first floor. You on the first floor can't understand the thoughts of the person on the 18th floor, but the person on the 18th floor can clearly know the actions, thoughts, and intentions of the person on the first floor, making the person on the first floor seem like an idiot. You're probably wondering what the difference is between the first floor and the 18th floor. The person on the first floor can also climb to the second floor through their own efforts, learning, and practice. When your mindset improves, your interpersonal relationships gradually advance to the third floor. After reaching the third floor, as long as you diligently study and improve every day, understand yourself, and control your emotions, you will gradually enter the fifth floor." "The floor. Yes, when you're on the 18th floor looking at someone on the 5th floor, it's not as clear as looking at someone on the 1st floor. Because the person on the 5th floor has experienced a lot, their eyes, their language skills aren't as sharp as those on the 1st floor, so you can't see right through them. You can even tell what they're thinking from a small gesture. That's what growing up is like."