Even tiny things like a fly's head or a snail’s horn can confuse people's minds and cause them to owe and betray both worldly and lokuttara dharma

by Master Ouyi Zhixu

My uncle Jin Chicheng was an official in Ganzhou. He went to the palace to meet the emperor and went home on his way.

He was infected with malaria in the summer. One day, he dozed off while leaning against the tea table and dreamed that he was surrounded on the left by servants from the office and on the right by monks.

Another old man said to him, "You were originally a monk. Can you turn back and still be a monk practice Buddhism? If possible, you can live to arrange your mother's funeral. If you can't turn back, your mother will arrange your funeral instead. "

My uncle was thinking: My mother is already eighty-four years old, how can I let her seeing me off? So, he immediately responded, "I will turn back."

Before he finished speaking, the servants dispersed, and he followed the chanting of the monks. Suddenly, the feeling of loneliness was touched again, and he woke up in sadness and regret.

Later, in the thatched cottage next to Yangshan Tomb, he told me what had happened before. But because he couldn't give up his official position, he returned to Ganzhou to take up his post. Soon he was promoted to the military governor of Yandong. He fell ill after returning home and died three or four days later. It actually made his eighty-year-old mother cry until her eyes dried up.

Alas, petty fame and gain can make people's minds confused and upside down to such an extent that both worldly and spiritual matters are damaged and degraded. This can be a permanent reference for those who are determined to rise to the top.

"Record of seeing and hearing"

lokuttara dharma: transcendental Buddist teachings

蠅頭蝸角，迷人心志，世出世法，兩皆虧負

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