The Yellow Book of Changing Fortunes: The Four Sutras of the True Parents Explained (1)

改变命运宝书：《了凡四训》解读（1）

The Four Sermons on the Vernacular

  A person's destiny can be changed. Read it again and again, practice it carefully, and you will make a big difference. I call it the Yellow Book, which means that it is as precious as gold. You will understand exactly how. The Four Noble Sermons are available as electronic documents, audio recordings and also as a movie. You can search for them online. If you don't have the time, then take the time to look at this edited version of mine. Destiny can be changed, if you set your mind to it. Destiny has a way of transforming itself ........

                         ----- Zhuge Handbook

The Four Sermons of Jie Fan in the Vernacular

Originally written by Mr. Yuan Weifan, a scholar of the Ming Dynasty

Narrated by Mr. Huang Zhihai in the early Ming Dynasty

Compiled by the Society for the Promotion of Dharma

The first book is the study of life

The Second Discourse on the Method of Reformation

The Third Book: The Way to Accumulate Goodness

The Fourth Article on the Effect of Humility and Virtue

Words of the Collator

Appendix: Master Yungu's Self-Knowledge of Yuan Zaifan

The Four Sutras of the Great Master Yuan Weifan is a book written by Mr. Yuan Weifan of the Ming Dynasty in China, which teaches his son, Yuan Tianqi, to understand the truth of fate, the criteria for distinguishing good from evil, the methods for reforming good deeds, and the effects of doing good deeds and accumulating virtue with humility. It is a good book that will benefit the hearts and minds of the world and change the social atmosphere.

However, the original text is written in Mandarin, which is difficult for modern people to read and not easy to understand. It is a pity that modern people, who lack patience, may be discouraged from reading this book, thus diminishing its impact in a tangible and intangible way.

In view of this, the Dharma Society has taken the initiative to compile and reprint the book so that it can be easily read and enjoyed by all. The four teachings in the vernacular are also available as an audio book. It is hoped that everyone who reads this book will learn from Mr. Hua Fan's spirit of transforming destiny to create a brighter future for themselves, their society, their country, and humanity as a whole.

The first part of the study of establishing one's destiny

To establish one's destiny is to create it, not to let it bind me. In this article, the study of establishing one's destiny is discussed and the principles of establishing one's destiny are explained. Mr Yuan told his son that he should not be bound by fate, and that he should try his best to do good deeds, "do not let good deeds go unpunished", and that he should try to cut off evil deeds, "do not let evil deeds go unpunished". This is the principle of changing one's destiny.

This is the principle of changing one's fate. He had an ordinary fate, but when he met Mr. Kung, his fate was all predetermined. Only then did he change his life.

My father died when I was a child, and my mother asked me to give up my studies, not to get a place in the examinations, and to study medicine instead, saying that I could earn money to support my life and help others. She said, "If you are good at medicine, you can become a famous doctor, which was your father's wish.

Later on, I met an old man at the temple with a long beard and an extraordinary appearance, and I bowed to him respectfully. This old man said to me, "You are in the government, you can take the examination next year and enter the school palace, why don't you study?

So I told him the reason why my mother had told me to give up my studies to study medicine. I asked the old man for his name, where he was from and where his family lived. According to the destined number, I should pass on to you this imperial number.

Therefore, I took this old man to my house and told my mother about it. My mother asked me to treat him well. She also said, "Since this man is well versed in fortune telling, ask him to do some calculations for you and see if they work.

It turned out that Mr. Kung's fortune telling was very good, even though it was a small matter. After hearing Mr. Kung's words, I was moved to study and discussed with my cousin, Shen Weigao. My cousin said, "My good friend Mr. Yu Haigu runs a school at Shen Youfu's house and accepts students to study. It would be very convenient for me to send you to board with him. So I took Mr. Yu Haigu as my teacher. Mr. Kung once told me the number of my destiny; he said, "When you are not a boy student, you should be 14th in the county examination, 71st in the prefectural examination, and 9th in the school examination.

When the next year came, I was able to get the same number of places in the three examinations as Mr. Kung had predicted, and they all matched. Mr. Kung also predicted for me the fortune and misfortune of my life. He said, "If I get the first place in that year, I should be a grantee in that year, and a tributary in that year, and when I am a tributary, I should be elected a governor of Sichuan province in a certain year. When you reach the age of fifty-three, on the 14th day of the 8th month of the year, you should die at the end of your life, but unfortunately you have no son in your destiny.

I took note of all these words and kept them in my mind. From then on, whenever I took an examination, the order of my ranking was not as Mr. Kung had predetermined. The only time I could pay tribute was when I had received 91 koku and 5 dou of rice as a government student. When I reached 71 koku of rice, Mr. Tu, the head of the school, gave me permission to become a tributary. I privately suspected that what Mr. Kung had projected was not working.

Later on, I was denied permission to be a tributary by another acting scholar, Yang Zongsi. In the year Dingmao, when Patriarch Yin Qiuming saw that I had failed the 'alternative paper' in the examination hall, he felt sorry for me and lamented that the five strategies in this paper were as good as a memorial to the emperor. How could a scholar of such great learning be allowed to remain buried in his old age?

So he instructed the magistrate to send me to him on official business, and I was allowed to make up for the tributary. Because of this setback, I became even more convinced that a man's advancement and retreat is destined to be a matter of fate. There is a certain time when one's luck comes sooner or later, so I took it all in stride and did not pursue it.

When I was elected a "tribute student", I had to go to the National University in Beijing to study, according to the regulations. So I lived in the capital for a year. All day long, I sat still, did not speak, and did not turn my thoughts. I did not read anything that was written. Before I entered the National University, I went to Mount Qixia to see Zen Master Yungu, a monk who had attained the Way.

I sat face to face with him in a meditation room for three days and nights, without closing my eyes. Zen Master Yun Gu asked me, "All people are not able to become saints because of the delusional thoughts that constantly haunt their minds.

I said, "My life has been predetermined by Mr. Confucius, when I will be born, when I will die, when I will be happy, when I will be unhappy, there is a predetermined time, there is no way to change it. If I wanted to think about gaining any benefits, it would be in vain; so I thought about it honestly, and there were no more delusions in my heart. I thought you were a great man, but I didn't know that you were just a mediocre, commonplace man.

I did not understand, so I asked him what he meant by that. He said, "An ordinary person cannot say that he does not have a mind that thinks and thinks; since he has a delusional mind that does not stop, he is bound by the number of yin and yang. There must be a number, but only ordinary people are bound by it. If a person is extremely good, he will not be bound by numbers.

For the very good man, though he is destined to suffer in his destiny, does a great good deed, and the power of this great good deed turns his suffering into happiness, and his poor and short life into a rich and long life.

But he who is extremely wicked is not destined to suffer. For if a man who is extremely wicked, though he is destined to be blessed, does a great evil deed, the power of that great evil deed may turn his bliss into misfortune, and his rich and long life into a poor and short one.

For twenty years your life has been predetermined by Mr. Kung, and you have not turned the numbers one iota, but have been held by them. If a person is bound by numbers, he is a mortal, but if you are not a mortal, what are you?

I asked Zen Master Yungu, "According to you, can we escape from this number? The Zen master said, "I make my own life, and I seek my own blessings; if I create evil, I naturally fold my blessings; if I practice good, I naturally gain blessings. What has been said in various poems and books is indeed a good and clear lesson. Our Buddhist scriptures say that if one asks for wealth and prosperity, one will receive it; if one asks for children, one will receive them; if one asks for long life, one will receive it.

As long as one does good deeds, one's life will not be in his hands. Because lying is a great precept of the Buddhists, how can any Buddha or Bodhisattva still tell lies and deceive people indiscriminately?

When I heard this, I still did not understand, and asked further, "Mencius once said, "Whatever I ask for, I can obtain.

If it is not in my heart, then how can I ask for it? For example, morality and righteousness are all in my heart, and if I aspire to be a moral and righteous person, then naturally I will become a moral and righteous person, and this is what I can seek. But if it is fame, fortune and wealth, they are not in my heart, they are outside of me, and I can only obtain them if others are willing to give them to me. If someone else refuses to give it to me, then I cannot get it, so how can I ask for it? Zen Master Yungu said, "Mencius' words are good, but you have interpreted them wrongly. Have you not seen what the Sixth Patriarch Huineng said: "All the various fields of blessings are determined in the heart of each person. Blessings cannot be separated from the heart; there is no field of blessings to be found outside the heart. If you seek blessings from your heart, there is nothing you cannot sense!

If one can seek it in one's heart, then not only can one seek morality and righteousness within the heart, but one can also seek fame and wealth outside the body. In other words, if one seeks benevolence and righteousness, blessings and prosperity for the sake of cultivating a field of blessings, one is bound to gain something.

If one has merit and wealth in one's destiny, one will get it even if one does not ask for it; if one does not have merit and wealth in one's destiny, one will not get it even if one exhausts all means.

Therefore, if a person does not examine and reflect on himself, but only blindly seeks fame, fortune and fortune from outside, he is still at the mercy of God and has no control over whether he will get it or not. This is in line with Mencius' saying that there is a way to seek and a destiny to receive.

Therefore, if you can ask for something, you should ask for it, but if you cannot ask for it, you should not ask for it indiscriminately.

If you must ask for it, then not only will you not be able to obtain the external fame and wealth, but you will also lose the morality and righteousness that you had in your heart, because you have asked for it too much, and you are greedy for it too much, and you will do whatever you can to obtain it. That is why it is useless to seek indiscriminately.

《了凡四训》白话篇

  人的命运可以改变的。《了凡四训》告诉你如何改变命运，反复阅读，认真实践，必会大有变化。我称他为黄宝书，意思是说，他象黄金一样珍贵。具体如何大家看看就会明白。了凡四训，有电子文档版、录音版、也有电影版。大家可以上网搜到。如果你没时间，那么就可抽时间，看看我的这个编辑版。命运是可以改变的，只要你下定决心。命运有自己来改造........

                         ----- 诸葛手记

《了凡四训》白话篇

明朝袁了凡进士原著

民初黄智海先生演述

了凡弘法学会整理

第一篇立命之学

第二篇改过之法

第三篇积善之方

第四篇谦德之效

整理人的话

附录云谷禅师授袁了凡功过格参云栖大师自知录

了凡四训这本书，是中国明朝袁了凡先生所作的家训，教戒他的儿子袁天启，认识命运的真相，明辨善恶的标准，改过迁善的方法，以及行善积德谦虚种种的效验；并且以他自己改造命运的经验来‘现身说法’；读了可以使人心目豁开，信心勇气倍增，亟欲效法了凡先生，来改造自己的命运；实在是一本有益世道人心，转移社会风气不可多得的好书。

但是了凡四训的原著，是用文言文写的；对现代人而言，阅读起来比较吃力，而且不太容易懂，民国初年的黄智海先生，为了使这本书能让大家受益，所以用白话文不厌其烦详尽的注解，可以说是用心良苦，功德无量；黄先生的白话注解在民间流传很广，它的优点是内容丰富详尽，缺点则或许是过于繁琐些；而现代人比较缺乏耐心，可能会因此而影响读这本书的兴趣，以致在有形无形中，使这本好书的影响力减弱，实在很可惜！

了凡弘法学会有见于此，于是发心加以整理，重新排版印刷，使得大家容易阅读，心生欢喜；并由善心人士出资，根据所整理的‘了凡四训白话解释精简本’，录制成“了凡四训有声书”；而了凡四训白话篇，也就是有声书的话稿。希望人人读过之后，都能够学习‘了凡先生’改造命运的精神，来创造自己，以及社会国家，乃至全人类光明的前途。

第一篇 立命之学

所谓‘立命’，就是我要创造命运，而不是让命运来束缚我。本篇立命之学，就是讨论立命的学问，讲解立命的道理。袁了凡先生将自己所经历，所见到改造命运种种的考验，告诉他的儿子；要袁天启不被命运束缚住，并且应竭力行善，“勿以善小而不为”；也必须努力断恶，“勿以恶小而为之”；如此，则一定可以改变自己的命运，所谓“断恶修善”，“灾消福来”，这是改造命运的原理。

【千人千般命呀！命命不相同，明朝袁了凡，本来命普通，遇到孔先生，命都被算中；短命绝后没功名，前世业障真不轻，庸庸碌碌二十年，一生命数被算定，云谷禅师来开示，了凡居士才转命呀！才转命。】

我童年的时候父亲就去逝了，母亲要我放弃学业，不要去考功名，改学医，并且说：学医可以赚钱养活生命，也可以救济别人。并且医术学得精，可以成为名医，这是你父亲从前的心愿。

后来我在慈云寺，碰到了一位老人，相貌非凡，一脸长须，看起来飘然若仙风道骨，我就很恭敬地向他行礼。这位老人向我说：你是官场中的人，明年就可以去参加考试，进学宫了，为何不读书呢？

我就把母亲叫我放弃读书去学医的缘故告诉他。并且请问老人的姓名，是那里人，家住何处；老人回答我说：我姓孔，是云南人，宋朝邵康节先生所精通的皇极数，我得到他的真传。照注定的数来讲，我应该把这个皇极数传给你。

因此，我就领了这位老人到我家，并将情形告诉母亲。母亲要我好好的待他。并且说：这位先生既然精通命数的道理，就请他替你推算推算，试试看，究竟灵不灵。

结果孔先生所推算的，虽然是很小的事情，但是都非常的灵验。我听了孔先生的话，就动了读书的念头，和我的表哥沈称商量。表哥说：我的好朋友郁海谷先生在沈友夫家里开馆，收学生读书。我送你去他那里寄宿读书，非常方便。于是我便拜了郁海谷先生为老师。孔先生有一次替我推算我命里所注定的数；他说：在你没有取得功名做童生时，县考应该考第十四名，府考应该考第七十一名，提学考应该考第九名。

到了明年，果然三处的考试，所考的名次和孔先生所推算的一样，完全相符。孔先生又替我推算终生的吉凶祸福。他说：那一年考取第几名，那一年应当补廪生，那一年应当做贡生，等到贡生出贡后，在某一年，应当选为四川省的一个县长，在做县长的任上三年半后，便该辞职回家乡。到了五十三岁那年八月十四日的丑时，就应该寿终正寝，可惜你命中没有儿子。

这些话我都一一的记录起来，并且牢记在心中。从此以后，凡是碰到考试，所考名次先后，都不出孔先生预先所算定的名次。唯独算我做廪生所应领的米，领到九十一石五斗的时候才能出贡。那里知道我吃到七十一石米的时候，学台屠宗师（学台：相当于现在的教育厅长）他就批准我，补了贡生。我私下就怀疑孔先生所推算的，有些不灵了。

后来果然被另外一位代理的学台杨宗师驳回，不准我补贡生。直到丁卯年，殷秋溟宗师看见我在考场中的‘备选试卷’没有考中，替我可惜，并且慨叹道：这本卷子所做的五篇策，竟如同上给皇帝的奏折一样。像这样有大学问的读书人，怎么可以让他埋没到老呢？

于是他就吩咐县官，替我上公事到他那里，准我补了贡生，经过这番的波折，我又多吃了一段时间的廪米，算起来连前所吃的七十一石，恰好补足，总计是九十一石五斗。我因为受到了这番波折，就更相信：一个人的进退功名浮沉，都是命中注定。而走运的迟或早，也都有一定的时候，所以一切都看得淡，不去追求了。

等我当选了“贡生”，按照规定，要到北京的国家大学去读书。所以我在京城里住了一年。一天到晚，静坐不动，不说话，也不转动念头。凡是文字，一概都不看。到了己巳年，回到南京的国家大学读书，在没有进国家大学以前，先到栖霞山去拜见云谷禅师，他是一位得道的高僧。

我同禅师面对面，坐在一间禅房里，三天三夜，连眼睛都没有闭。云谷禅师问我说：凡是一个人，所以不能够成为圣人，只因为妄念，在心中不断地缠来缠去；而你静坐三天，我不曾看见你起一个妄念，这是什么缘故呢？

我说：我的命被孔先生算定了，何时生，何时死，何时得意，何时失意，都有个定数，没有办法改变。就是要胡思乱想得到什么好处，也是白想；所以就老实不想，心里也就没有什么妄念了。云谷禅师笑道：我本来认为你是一个了不得的豪杰，那里知道，你原来只是一个庸庸碌碌的凡夫俗子。

我听了之后不明白，便请问他此话怎讲？云谷禅师说道：一个平常人，不能说没有胡思乱想的那颗意识心；既然有这一颗一刻不停的妄心在，那就要被阴阳气数束缚了；既被阴阳气数束缚，怎么可说没有数呢？虽说数一定有，但是只有平常人，才会被数所束缚住。若是一个极善的人，数就拘他不住了。

因为极善的人，尽管本来他的命数里注定吃苦；但是他做了极大的善事，这大善事的力量，就可以使他苦变成乐，贫贱短命，变成富贵长寿。

而极恶的人，数也拘他不住。因为极恶的人，尽管他本来命中注定要享福，但是他如果做了极大的恶事，这大恶事的力量，就可以使福变成祸，富贵长寿变成为贫贱短命。

你二十年来的命都被孔先生算定了，不曾把数转动一分一毫，反而被数把你给拘住了。一个人会被数拘住，就是凡夫，这样看来，你不是凡夫，是什么呢？

我问云谷禅师说：照你说来，究竟这个数，可以逃得过去么？禅师说：命由我自己造，福由我自己求；我造恶就自然折福；我修善，就自然得福。从前各种诗书中所说，实在是的的确确，明明白白的好教训。我们佛经里说：一个人要求富贵就得富贵，要求儿女就得儿女，要求长寿就得长寿。

只要做善事，命就拘他不住了。因为说谎是佛家的大戒，那有佛菩萨还会乱说假话，欺骗人的呢？

我听了以后，心里还是不明白，又进一步问说；孟子曾说：凡是求起来，就可以得到的，这是说在我心里可以做得到的事情。

若是不在我心里的事，那么怎能一定求得到呢？譬如说道德仁义，那全是在我心里的，我立志要做一个有道德仁义的人，自然我就成为一个有道德仁义的人，这是我可以尽力去求的。若是功名富贵，那是不在我心里头的，是在我身外的，要别人肯给我，我才可以得到。倘若旁人不肯给我，我就没法子得到，那么我要怎样才可以求到呢？云谷禅师说：孟子的话不错，但是你解释错了。你没看见六祖慧能大师说：所有各种的福田，都决定在各人的心里。福离不开心，心外没有福田可寻，所以种福种祸，全在自己的内心。只要从心里去求福，没有感应不到的！

能向自己心里去求，那就不只是心内的道德仁义，可以求得，就是身外的功名富贵，也可以求到，所以叫做内外双得。换句话说，为了种福田而求仁求义，求福，求禄，是必有所得的。

一个人命里若有功名富贵，就是不求，也会得到；若是命里没有功名富贵，就算是用尽了方法，也求不到的。

所以一个人，若不能自己检讨反省，而只是盲目地向外面追求名利福寿；但得到得不到，还是听天由命，自己毫无把握。这就合了孟子所说，求之有道，得之有命的两句话了。

要知道纵然得到，究竟还是命里本来就有的，并不是自己求的效验，所以可以求到的，才去求，求不到的，就不必去乱求。

倘若你一定要求，那不但身外的功名富贵求不到，而且因为过份的乱求，过份的贪得，为求而不择手段，那就把心里本来有的道德仁义，也都失掉了，那岂不是内外双失么？所以乱求是毫无益处的。

What are the acts of abstaining from killing and releasing

 戒杀与放生的行为包括哪些

 1. Do not kill a living being with your own hands.

　　2. Do not abet others to kill.

　　3. Do not help others to kill.

　　4. Abstain from eating meat.

　　5. Do not engage in trades related to killing.

　　6、Whenever there is worship, regardless of what is being worshipped, use vegetarian dishes, flowers and fruit, not animal gifts.

　　7. If you see someone killing a human being, you should discourage them or buy the animal to be slaughtered with money and release it. If this does not work, or if the person does not sell the animal, then you should have compassion for the slaughtered animal, and even better if you can recite the Buddha's name or mantra for it.

　　8. Do not abuse the animal.

　　9、Other actions that are contrary to killing.

　　10. Abstain from killing and releasing animals yourself, and advise others to do the same. 

   1、不亲手杀生。

　　2、不教唆别人杀生。

　　3、不帮助别人杀生。

　　4、戒除肉食。

　　5、不从事与杀生有关的行业。

　　6、凡有祭拜，不管拜的是什么，一律用素菜、鲜花、水果，不用牲礼。

　　7、见人杀生，应加劝阻，或用钱将临宰之动物买而放之。若劝阻无效，或他不卖，则应对被杀之动物起同情心，若能为它念佛号或往生咒更好。

　　8、不虐待动物。

　　9、其他与杀生行为相反之行为。

　　10、自己戒杀放生，也劝别人戒杀放生。 

(This article is an original article by Zhuge Changqing, and the pictures are selected from the Internet. Welcome to forward it, and please indicate the source for forwarding)

Introduction to Zhuge Changqing: Zhuge Changqing, the inheritor and promoter of traditional Chinese culture, is willing to "learn from sages, promote virtue, revitalize China and benefit the world" together with people with the same ideals in the world.

(Zhuge Changqing: zhuge8031@163.com ）

Zhuge Changqing mailbox：

zhuge8031@163.com

Zhuge Changqing's Chinese Dream

Learn from sages and carry forward virtue

Revitalizing China for the benefit of the world

 （本文是诸葛长青原创文章，图片选自网络。欢迎转发，转发引用请注明出处）

诸葛长青简介：诸葛长青，中国国学传统文化传承弘扬者，愿与天下志同道合者一起“学习圣贤、弘扬善德、振兴中华、造福世界”。

（诸葛长青：zhuge8031@163.com）

Zhuge Changqing mailbox：

zhuge8031@163.com

  诸葛长青中国梦  

学习圣贤 弘扬善德

振兴中华 造福世界

Selected Articles in Previous Periods

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往期精选文章

点击文章标题查看

1The wisdom of traditional Chinese culture changes the destiny: filial piety to parents+five in one+self-improvement

1 国学智慧改命运：孝敬父母+五合一+自强不息

2Zhuge Changqing's Three Golden Keys to Changing Destiny

2诸葛长青改命运三把金钥匙诸葛长青施食仪轨 （十五步简洁版）

3Zhuge Changqing's Greeting Ritual (15 Steps Concise Version)

3 诸葛长青施食仪轨 （十五步简洁版）

4How to repent: the ritual of repentance and the method of repentance (full version)

4   如何忏悔：忏悔仪轨忏悔方法（完整版）

5How to read the Dizang Sutra: Methods for reciting Dizang Sutra (complete version)

5 如何念地藏经：念地藏经仪轨方法（完整版）

6How to release? The ritual of releasing life

6怎样放生？放生仪轨

7Zhuge Changqing's Repentance Culture: A Case Study of Repentance Methods for Changing Destiny

7诸葛长青忏悔文化：改变命运忏悔方法案例

8Free Life Culture: Free Life Culture in Ancient China

8放生文化：中国古代的放生文化

9Shocking photo of feeding: Buddha, Bodhisattva and Dharma Protector come to the scene

9施食震撼照片：佛菩萨护法神亲临现场

10Feeding Rite Return: the return is changed to simple return

10施食仪轨回向：回向修改为简洁回向