The Vegetable Root Pavilion: A Life of Strategy – Those with Kindness and Generosity Hold the Upper Hand

If the world is like a mirror, it reflects not only one's appearance, but also one's nature of origin,Whatever state we impose on the world, it will eventually be reflected back upon ourselves. Just like a person with a dark and prejudiced nature, when he acts and deals with people based on his inner malice, the external world will inevitably reflect back to him a chaotic life,As the ancients say: 'Using copper as a mirror can correct one's attire and conduct; using the past as a mirror can understand the rise and fall; using people as a mirror can enlighten gains and losses',Therefore, if we view the world as a mirror, we can see our own nature,A benevolent and compassionate person has a broad heart and a vast mind, so he can enjoy prosperity and longevity, and everything goes smoothly with a broad and spacious air. A shallow and ignorant person has a narrow and constricted heart, so his fortune is meager and short-lived, and everything appears in a narrow and hurried manner,From another perspective, this is all a manifestation of cause and effect,A person's actions and conduct stemming from his nature of origin can be classified as cause, and the state shown after being influenced and reflected back is classified as effect. This is the mutual influence and cyclical relationship between cause and effect,There was once a wealthy man who took a boat across a bridge. At that moment, someone was carrying dung and spilled it into his boat, polluting it everywhere,The wealthy man didn't argue with the person, but his servant was furious and wanted to attack him. The wealthy man said, 'Forget it, he probably doesn't know it's me. If he does, he wouldn't have deliberately spilled dung on my boat,'Thus, the matter was resolved without incident. After returning home, the wealthy man reviewed his accounts and discovered the truth: the person owed his family 30 taels of silver and wanted to cause trouble, seeking death. It was because the wealthy man was broad-minded, he avoided this trouble,Let's imagine if the wealthy man was a meticulous and calculating person, he might have brought trouble upon himself because of this incident. But he chose to make a big thing small and a small thing nothing. This virtue saved him from disaster and made his life more fortunate and less unfortunate,'In *The Grass-Root Classics*, there is a saying:',A benevolent and compassionate person has a broad and spacious heart, so he enjoys prosperity and longevity, and everything manifests with a broad and spacious air. A shallow and ignorant person has a narrow and constricted heart, so his fortune is meager and short-lived, and everything appears in a narrow and hurried manner,Ultimately, the ending of life is determined by one's inner heart and actions, and those who guide inner and outer actions are one's vision and thinking,A person's outlook is largely determined by his experience. Most people are too concerned with immediate gains and losses, and even resort to unscrupulous means to benefit themselves. The root cause is their limited vision, fixated on superficial appearances,However, it's a pity that people's obsession with appearances is often a delusion that obscures their own minds. Sadly, when a person is trapped in a problem and cannot extricate himself, he is not aware of the problem itself,All the illusions and delusions spread by things can be found a suitable answer in *The Doctrine of the Mean*,'Harm is often accompanied by blessing; blessing is often accompanied by harm',All phenomena extended by the world have behind them truths that cannot be easily detected. Even seemingly good things can bring bad outcomes. Those seemingly easily obtainable gains and losses also contain opposite influences,Therefore, when faced with various illusions, the best state is to cultivate one's vision,Seeing the problem from a broad perspective, abandoning superficial appearances and focusing on the essence, avoiding one's narrow vision and obsession with immediate gains and losses, and letting go of one's anger and attachments, can better plan one's life,Text by *National Studies*,Reading national studies, feeling the wisdom of ancient culture, experiencing a different world, seeing a different life.

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