Welcome, this is Corinne Malaske with an Ancient tale of Wisdom to share, that of ‘The Golden Buddha’. It has touched my heart and I hope it will touch yours.Since time began, Humans have always sought divine enlightenment. This story is about the purity of this desire to cultivate or raise ourselves up.
A butcher came upon two people cultivating the state of enlightenment or Buddha hood. They told the butcher they were going West to see the Buddha and asked him to come with them. The butcher said, “I’m just too filthy and not worthy enough. Please, take my sincere heart with you.” So saying, the butcher took out his own heart, entrusting it to these two people. They agreed to take his heart into the West to the Buddha.
They did indeed find the Buddha. The Buddha pointed to a giant pot full of boiling water and asked them to jump into the pot. They both felt a lot of hesitation and uncertainty. They decided to throw the butcher’s heart into [click to continue…]
Hello, and welcome to Ancient Tales of Wisdom, on the SOH Radio Network. I am Laura Market, today I’d like to share with you a story of trustworthy Fan Zhongyan a very famous scholar who later became prime minister in the Song Dynasty,
Since China has a very long history that emphasizes moral cultivation they considered moral integrity and trust as the most fundamental element of moral cultivation.
As a result, in Chinese culture there are sayings about “trust” such as “A promise is worth one thousand ounces of gold;”
“Promises must be kept, and action must be resolute;” and “A promise cannot be taken back once it is made;” and so on.
Therefore in Chinese culture, there is the following tale….
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Hello and welcome to Ancient Tales of Wisdom on Sound of Hope Radio Network. This is Catherine Hennessy. Today I’m going to narrate to you a Chinese story called ‘A Noble Person Cultivates Wisdom and Far-sightedness’. I hope you will enjoy it.
As Confucius was traveling through many regions of China, he ran out of food in the Chen and Cai areas. Facing such difficulties, he still sang, played music and composed songs between two pillars.
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The virtues and principals that bridged Bing Ji's Heavenly rewards of honour and good fortune. (Photo DanieVDM/Flickr)
My name is Grace Mann, and it is my privilege to bring you the story; Selflessly Fulfilling One’s Duty.
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Bing Ji, a man from the West Han Dynasty (206 B.C. – 220 A.D.) was very forgiving and morally respectable. He did a lot of great things in a low-keyed manner and never showed off.
Emperor Xuan of Han (91- 49 B.C.) was an emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty from 74 B.C. to 49 B.C. His life story was a riches-to-rags-to-riches story. Emperor Xuan’s birth name was Liu Bingyi. He was born in 91 B.C. to Liu Jin, the son of then-Crown Prince Liu Ju, and his wife Consort Wang. Emperor Xuan was the great grandson of Emperor Wu (140 – 87 B.C.)
Late in Emperor Wu’s reign, conspirators accused Crown Prince Ju of using witchcraft against his father, Emperor Wu. Prince Ju was forced into a rebellion which was defeated. Prince Ju committed suicide, and his two uncles died with him. Empress Wei also committed suicide. Prince Ju’s concubine Consort Shi and Emperor Xuan’s parents also died in the incident in the capital. Emperor Xuan (then baby Bingyi) was but a few months old at the time. Bingyi was spared, although he was imprisoned and overseen by the Ministry of Vassal Affairs. He was put into the custody of the warden Bing Ji. Bing knew that Prince Ju was actually not guilty of using witchcraft and took pity on the child, and selected two kind female prisoners, Hu Zu and Guo Zhengqing, to serve as his wet nurses and caretakers. Bing visited them each day to see how the child was doing. Bing Ji reported to Emperor Wu several times, telling him that there was not enough evidence to support the witchcraft accusation, but each time he was reproached by Emperor Wu.
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For a long time, the Chinese people have believed in Gods and respected Buddhas.This story is said to be set in ancient times, like many good stories. Bodhisattva Dizang (Kshitigarbha) descended to the human world, but found that most people no longer believed in Gods or Buddhas.
Out of great compassion, he decided to seek out the last believers and save them.Bodhisattva Dizang transformed himself into a beggar, wandering in a village from house to house begging for food. No one gave him any food and no houses had worshipping altars. Approaching the end of the village, he saw an old woman burning incense in front of a Buddha statue.
He went up and begged for food. The old woman hesitated, “I only have one bowl of rice left. You can take half of it, and I will need to keep the other half to make offerings to the Buddha.”
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Hello and welcome to Ancient Tales of Wisdom on Sound of Hope Radio Network. This is Catherine Hennessy. Today I’m going to narrate to you a Chinese story called ‘A Person’s Future Will Change When He Ceases to Do Bad Deeds and Begins to Do Good’. I hope you will enjoy it.
During the Ming Dynasty there was a xiucai (someone who has gained mastery in one or more disciplines) named Zhang Sheng from Jingkou, Zhenjiang City, Jiangsu Province, that came from an underprivileged family. He behaved like a scoundrel and caused lots of trouble, but in reality he was straightforward and generous, squeezing whatever he could from the rich to help the poor. Although many impoverished villagers benefited from his actions, he himself was destitute.
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One day a man was out walking through the woods when he heard the sound of a chick near by. There on the ground was an eagle chick with its new down feathers huddled in the tall grass. The man picked it up and brought it home. He placed it among the chickens and fed it the same food as he did the others. The Chick was content in the barnyard, grew in size and fed among the fowl each day.
Three years later a friend retuned to their village and came to visit. As the men talked of their lives they walked through the barnyard where the friend saw a strange site and said, ”That bird, it’s an eagle, not a chicken. Why is he in your coop?”
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welcome to Ancient Tales of Wisdom on soh radio network. My names is corinne malaske. today, i would like to share this tale with you.
A TURTLE GOES FREE
once upon a time, a soldier saw a four inch turtle for sale on a street in Wu-ch’ang. It was a cute tiny white turtle. The soldier bought the turtle, took it home and found a jug for it to live inside. After only seven days, it was over a foot long. Surprised, the soldier felt sorry for the turtle stuck inside the jug. Although he liked the turtle, he knew it was right to return it to the river. He let it go and sadly watched the turtle swim away.
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welcome to Ancient Tales of Wisdom on soh radio network. My names is corinne malaske. today, i would like to share this tale with you.
‘A BRIDE FOR THE RIVER SPIRIT’
Hsi-men Pao became the new magistrate of Yeh County during the years of 476-221 B.C. The lives of the people were important to him. He was always traveling from place to place to see how the people lived. He soon discovered a very bad custom in Yeh County.
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Hello and welcome to Ancient Tales of Wisdom on Sound of Hope Radio Network. This is Catherine Hennessy. Today I’m going to narrate to you a Chinese story called ‘Yue Fei Remembered the Benevolence of his Teacher Zhou Tong’. I hope you will enjoy it.
The Chinese people always used to honor and respect their teachers, as it was a traditional value that formed a binding relationship between teacher and student. In teaching his students, the teacher was expected to impart his scholarly knowledge and wisdom regarding how one should behave in society. His duty was to bring life-long, valuable wisdom to his students, and for this reason the ancient people of China had the saying, “A teacher for one day should be respected like a father for life.” People paid a lot attention to their conduct and behavior, as they wanted to learn the correct moral principles that a human should possess. This would enable them to develop virtue, and because of this, they were thankful for their teacher’s benevolence.
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There was famine in Germany one year. A rich person invited 20 poor children to his home. He said to them: “Each of you can pick one piece of bread from the basket. From now on, every day at the
same time you can come here and take bread until the famine is over.”
The children grabbed the basket and fought for the biggest piece. After they got the bread in their hand, they left without saying “thank you”.
Only a poor girl named Francis in neat clothes stood shyly on the side. She waited for everyone to finish before she took the last smallest piece left in the basket. She thanked the owner and went home.
The second day, all the children did the same as previous day. They showed their eagerness to get the bread like hungry wolves trying to catch food. Poor Francis got the smallest piece of bread which was not even the half size of the others. But when she got home and her mom cut the bread, a bunch of shiny new silver coins fell out.
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Lao Zi - said to be one of the most famous philosophers in Chinese history. Also known as the Father of Taoism
Hello and welcome to Ancient Tales of Wisdom proudly brought you by SOH Radio Network. My name is Grace Mann, and it is my privelege to bring you the story; One Benefits from Modesty and is Ruined by Complacence.
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There is an ancient Chinese saying, “One benefits from modesty and is ruined by complacence.” The famous Chinese Taoist Lao Zi said, “A man is able to tell right from wrong when he does not think of himself as a know-it-all. A man will be recognized for his achievements when he does not brag. A man is capable of great accomplishments if he is not proud.”
A tolerant person is bound to have good fortune. An intolerant person is bound to have bad fortune. Being humble or being proud determines one’s fortune. A humble man of lofty character will become increasingly moral. Hence, modesty is a virtue a moral person must maintain.
During the Spring and Autumn Period in ancient China, Zi Lu, a disciple of Confucius, once asked Confucius “Why does a degenerated person tend to be conceited?” Confucius replied, “At its origin in Wen Mountain, the Yangtze River is unable to even float a cup. But when the Yangtze River goes down to the next port, multiple boats can line up in a row on the river.” Zi Lu asked again, “What do you mean, teacher?” Confucius explained, “The Yangtze River is the longest river in China, but it is no more than a small brook at its origin. It becomes bigger and wider as it keeps receiving water from many different brooks and rivers. A man who thinks twice before he speaks does not boast or make empty promises. A man who thinks twice before he acts does not hug all the credit. A true gentleman is wise and kind. A true gentleman respects, tolerates and forgives others and is a man of his word. A degenerated man thinks little of virtue and that is the reason why he is not the man he appears to be on the outside and is conceited.”
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There is an ancient saying, “Intolerance of minor injustices could lead to the undoing of one’s great destiny.” Tolerance is a type of humbleness, maturity, generosity and long-term vision. King Gou Jian (circa 496 BC – 465 BC), forbore the humiliation of defeat and eventually restored the State of Yue. During the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD), Han Xin avoided disaster because he did not follow an impulse and endured humiliation.
Zhang Er and Chen Yu were celebrities in the State of Wei, which was taken over by Qin in the Warring States Period (circa 500 BC – 221 BC).
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