A collection of the blessings of life extension by releasing a life: the ironclad proof of the "longevity of the benevolent"

放生延寿福报集锦：“仁者寿”的铁证

Those who release life are longevity stars in the eyes of all beings; those who are longevity stars are blessed with longevity

                            ---- Zhuge Changqing

放生者，在众生眼里就是寿星；寿星者，福寿绵绵

                            ----诸葛长青
   

To release a living being is to save him or her from danger and is the greatest virtue in the world.

  To release life is to prolong the life of a living being and to block the call of death for him.

  Karma is the most powerful of all; if you reap what you sow, you will reap what you sow.

  If you let go of life to save the life of a creature, heaven will prolong its life.

   This is why releasing life can prolong life span and blessings.

  Today, Zhuge Changqing has excerpted two cases of "benevolent longevity" in which life is prolonged by releasing life to share with those who are interested.

   (1) A young sama saves ants to prolong his life 

   It is written in the Parable Sutra that once upon a time there were five men who practised in a forest not far from the city. His disciple was an eight-year-old shamatha. The old master knew that the young shamatha had only seven days left to live because he had the power of destiny. He thought to himself, 'If the little sama dies here, his parents will think that I have not taken good care of him and that he has had an accident, and they will resent me. 

  So the old master told the young sage: 'Your parents miss you very much, so you can go back to visit them and come back after eight days. Little Shamayi bowed happily and took leave of the old master. Halfway along the path, it began to rain heavily from the sky. When he saw that the rain was about to flow into an ant's nest, he hurriedly blocked it with earth so that it did not flood the ant's nest. 

  When the young shamrock returned home, all was well and nothing happened. On the morning of the eighth day, he returned to his master, and the old master was surprised to see that the young shamatha had returned safely. He then went into meditation to observe the reason for this and realised that the young sami had prolonged his life because he had saved the ants. The old master said again, 'You have done great merit, don't you know it yourself?' The young monk said, 'I was at home for seven days, what merit did I do there?' The old master said again, 'Your life expectancy was only until yesterday, but because you saved so many ants, your life expectancy can be extended to more than eighty years.' 

  Hearing these words of the master, the young sage became even more convinced of the principle of 'good deeds have good rewards', and of course his heart rejoiced. So he worked hard at his practice, never slackening off, and later attained the holy fruit of the six divine powers. (From the seventh volume of the Metaphorical Sutra)

   Zhuge Changqing: The young sage's destiny was a karmic one because he had the karma of killing beings in his repeated lives. But by saving a nest of ants, he repaid the debt of his repeated lifetimes of killing and accumulated great merit. This is a powerful proof that goodness has its reward and that the benevolent will live long.

  (2) Liu Jing's release of a long life 

   Liu Jing was a native of the Ming dynasty, and his father was a famous 'Grand Secretary'. Liu Jing was frail and sickly at a young age, and his five original brothers all died in quick succession. As a result, Liu Jing was very concerned about the well-being of his youngest son and had many fortune tellers come to see his fortune. Unfortunately, they all said that Liu Jing would not live to the age of 19. 

   It so happened that a famous fortune teller from Sichuan called Zhou Shi Lian came to the capital, so Liu Da Si Kou invited him to his home to tell Liu Jing's fortune. Please do not despair, but try to repent of your karma. If you accumulate Yin virtue, you may reverse your bad luck.' 

  At the age of seventeen, Liu Jing listened to these words of Zhou Xiang Shi, and he was determined to get rid of all the evils and do good deeds extensively. And he took the 'Book of Merits and Demerits' and the 'Book of Tai Shang Induction' as his code of conduct. Every day he examined and reflected on each article. When a good thought arose, he would draw a red circle on the eastern wall. In particular, I did not hesitate to abstain from killing and releasing living creatures. After three years of doing this, he passed the difficult time of being nineteen years old safely. 

   One day, as he was crossing the Yangtze River from his boat, he saw a fisherman catch a large tortoise. Seeing it, Liu Jing felt compassionate and bought it to set it free. The tortoise seemed to be very spiritual and followed Liu Jing's boat for five or six miles to see him off. That night, when Liu Jing was staying at the hostel, he dreamt of a short, fat Taoist man dressed in black who said to him, 'Your Excellency, you have been doing good deeds for three years and have never slackened off. Now you have prolonged your life and increased your prosperity. But your body has always been weak, and it is inevitable that you will suffer from cold. But I have a small technique to teach you, and if you follow it, you will be safe and free from illness.' When he had finished, he immediately taught Liu Jing the essentials of breath regulation. 

   When Liu Jing woke up, he knew that it was the divine tortoise who had returned the favour, so he followed the methods he had learned in his dream and his health improved day by day. Later, he asked Xiang Shi Zhou Shi Lian to come back to the capital to thank him for his past teachings. That night he and Zhou Shi Lian slept in the same bed and Zhou Shi Lian woke up in the middle of the night and noticed that Liu Jing's breathing from his nose was very faint. When he woke up the next morning, Zhou Shi Lian congratulated Liu Da Si Kou: 'Your son's bones have changed so much in these years, I slept with him yesterday. I slept with him yesterday and learnt that he has learnt how to breathe like a tortoise, which is not only good for his health, but also for his longevity. 

   Later, Liu Jing lived to be ninety-eight years old, and his children and grandchildren were all wise and wise, in keeping with Zhou Shi Lian's prophecy. (From 'Fate is in Your Hands')

放生就是解救众生于危难之中，是天下第一善德。

  放生就是延长众生的生命，替他阻挡死神的召唤。

  因果报应，丝毫不爽；种瓜得瓜，种豆得豆；天理循环，分毫不差。

  放生救物命，天必长其命。

   所以放生可以延长寿命，福寿绵绵。。。

  今天，诸葛长青摘录二则放生延命的“仁者寿”案例与有缘者分享：

   （一）小沙弥救蚁延年 

 
   《譬喻经》上记载：从前有五个人在离城不远的森林里修行，其中一位老师父证得了六神通，他的弟子是一个八岁的沙弥。那老师父因为有宿命通，知道小沙弥的寿命只剩下七天了。他心里这么地想：‘如果小沙弥在这里死了，他的父母一定认为我照顾不周，才发生意外，心中就会怨恨我的’。 

 
  因此，老师父就告诉小沙弥：‘你的双亲很想念你，你可以回去探望父母，过了八天以后再来。’小沙弥很高兴地顶礼，辞别了老师父。小沙弥走到半路，天上开始下大雨了。他看到雨水快要流进一个蚂蚁窝时，他急忙用土把雨水堵住，使雨水没有淹到蚂蚁窝里去。 

 
  小沙弥回家后，一切都很好，没有发生任何事故。到了第八天的清晨，他又回到师父那里，老师父看到小沙弥能够平安回来感到奇怪。他就入定观察原因，才知道小沙弥因为救了蚂蚁而延长寿命了。老师父又说：‘你做了大功德，你自己不知道吗？’小沙弥说：‘我七天都在家里，那里做什么功德？’老师父又说：‘你的寿命本来只能活到昨天，因为你救了那么多蚂蚁，所以寿命可以延长寿命到八十多岁。’ 

 
  小沙弥听了师父的这番话，对于‘善有善报’的原理更加相信，当然心中也很欢喜。于是他就努力用功修行，从不懈怠，后来也证得了六神通的圣果。（摘自《譬喻经》第七卷）。

   诸葛长青：小沙弥命中有劫，是因为他累世有杀生之业。却因救了一窝蚂蚁偿还了累世杀债，积累了巨大功德。是善有善报，仁者必寿的有力证明。

  （二）刘璟放生长命 

   刘璟是明朝人，他的父亲是一位赫赫有名的‘大司寇’。刘璟年幼时体弱多病，他原有的五个哥哥都先后夭折了。因此，刘大司寇对于这个最小的儿子的安危十分关切，他请了许多算命先生来看相。很不幸的是大家都说刘璟很难活到十九岁。 

 
   恰巧四川有位叫周士涟的著名相士来到京城，刘大司寇就请周相士到家里来给刘璟算命，周相士看了刘璟的相貌和八字以后，说：‘你在十九岁那一年应有一个很难渡过的危厄；不过请你不要绝望，努力忏悔业障。广积阴德，可能扭转恶运。’ 
 

  十七岁的刘璟听了周相士这一番话，他就决心革除众恶，广行善事。而且以《功过格》和《太上感应篇》作为行为的准则。每天逐条检点反省。起了一个善念，就在东边的墙壁上划一个红圈圈。尤其对于戒杀和放生，特别力行，不敢稍怠。这样行了三年，竟然平安地度过了十九岁的难关。 

 
   有一天，他从船要渡过长江，看到渔翁抓到一只大乌龟。刘璟看到了产生慈悯之心，就把它买来放生。那只乌龟好像很有灵性，一直跟在刘璟的船后送他，跟了五六里，还依依不舍。当天夜里，刘璟住在旅舍，梦见一位穿黑衣又短又胖的道人，对他说：‘公子广行众善，三年从不懈怠。现在你已延寿增禄了。但是你有身体向来薄弱，难免要受寒。但是有小术相授于你，依照奉行，可保平安无病。’说完了，马上就教刘璟调息的要领。 

 
   刘璟醒来，知道是神龟报恩，就依照梦中所学的方法用功，果然健康情况一天比一天进步了。后来他请周士涟相士再来京城，以感谢昔日教诲的恩情。当天晚上他和周相士同床睡觉，周士涟半夜醒来，发觉刘璟鼻子的呼吸非常微细。第二天早晨起床后，周相士就向刘大司寇道贺：‘这几年来，您公子的骨相改变太多了，我昨天跟他一齐睡。知道他已学会了乌龟的呼吸方法，这不但对健康有益，而且能使福寿绵长，这真是他行善的福报啊！’ 

 
   后来刘璟活到九十八岁，子孙都很贤明，果然符合了周士涟的预言。（摘自《命运在您手上》）

(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

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

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