Superstition and luck - inspiration from Zeng Guofan's epitaph
Is there a difference between superstition and luck? Everyone has their own opinions. My opinion is: there is no difference! Superstition is a popular term for luck; luck is just a scientific term for superstition. What prompted me to write this article is that Zeng Guofan's epitaph only has twelve words: "Don't believe in books, believe in luck; public words can be passed down to eternity." Translated into vernacular, it means: Don't believe the books you have read, but trust the books you have read. Believe in luck, my life experience, only these two sentences can be passed down to eternity.
To be honest, when I first saw this twelve-character epitaph, I found it unbelievable! Who is Zeng Guofan? A scholar who started in the countryside, he adhered to the principle of "study seriously, be an honest man, do things down-to-earth, and fight hard" throughout his life, and achieved countless great achievements: quelling the giant Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, annihilating the Nian Army, and reaching Liangjiang. Governor-General, Governor-General of Zhili, Bachelor of Wuyingdian, and a highly respected minister. Such a great person said countless famous quotes during his lifetime. And his last epitaph actually asked future generations not to believe in reading but to believe in luck? Isn't this too kind? But Zeng Guofan was a famously kind man in history. How could he speak like this?
Xiao Yishan, a famous historian in the Republic of China, once said: "Zeng Guofan's achievements in his life all come from his knowledge." It can be seen that knowledge is the fundamental foundation for Zeng Guofan's great achievements in his life, and a large part of knowledge comes from reading! Zeng Guofan, who read countless books and read countless people in his life, actually gave future generations another way at the last moment of his life: "Don't believe in books, believe in luck." This is simply incredible!
For quite a long time, I didn’t understand: What was Zeng Wenzhenggong’s intention for doing this? It wasn't until a few mornings ago when I listened to a program called "Luo Ji Thinking" that I was awakened to this mystery: In fact, what Zeng Wenzhenggong said was very meaningful and very kind!
His last words can be understood at two levels, or in other words: this sentence is meant for two kinds of people. The first type of people is for people who have successful careers. Zeng Guofan used this sentence to warn them: The reason why you are successful is not entirely the result of your personal efforts, but also factors of destiny and luck. Even if you obtain No matter how great your achievements are, you must still have some degree of "God's favor", and you must always maintain a sense of awe for the uncertain factors of fate. God can favor you or abandon you. Don’t be too conceited in life!
The second meaning is for the second type of people, which is also for the vast majority of people. Zeng Wenzhenggong encouraged them and said: The reason why you have not succeeded is because your luck is still there. Didn't come. Don't be discouraged, don't be discouraged, and don't regret that you haven't studied enough. When luck comes, even the door can't stop it! For the God of destiny, which contains uncertainty, one must always hold on to hope. Only with hope can one live a healthy and meaningful life! Don’t feel too inferior in life.
The epitaph of just twelve words tells a lot of philosophies in the world. Zeng Guofan and Zeng Wenzhenggong were such kind people!
From my own experience, I feel that destiny exists. In November 2017, a friend of mine with a net worth of more than 2 billion passed away. More than three years before his death, I had a dream about the scene at his funeral, which was exactly the same as the scene at his funeral last year. At that time, I was quite surprised after the dream, and I just wondered how I could have such a dream. In the second half of the year before last, his brother's daughter got married. I went there. We met and chatted for a while. He looked very good at that time. On the way back, I was still wondering about the dream I had. Unexpectedly, it turned into a dream at the end of last year. reality. There are many more experiences like this. When some things happen, they feel very familiar, as if they have known it for a long time. When I think about it carefully, it turns out that I have experienced it in a dream. It's just a matter of time. I don't know the reason for this, maybe it's fate.
Let me tell you something about a friend. This person became a civil servant in our county very early and lived a nine-to-five life every day. If you live a normal life and climb up step by step, you can almost see the day when you grow old!
I only remember that it was in the early 2000s. My cousin-in-law was setting up a stall selling barbecue in Shenzhen. It was already past 12 o'clock in the evening. This man called and said that he had arrived somewhere in Shenzhen and asked me to His cousin-in-law picked him up. At that time, my cousin-in-law even joked that if you are not a good civil servant, stop joking here! After checking again and again, we found out that he was not lying, so we went to pick him up and take him to our place. He escaped from a pyramid scheme, was deceived by his brother, and quit his job at home.
He did not stay in Shenzhen, but took travel expenses home from his cousin-in-law! Including later 1, his brother came home and was severely beaten by him. Without a job, I wander around every day. One day, a friend drank with him. This friend had been in the garlic business for several years and had some connections. However, at that time garlic had been in decline for three consecutive years. In the city, there are sales for five yuan and twenty-five pounds on the streets. Our entire county is a garlic area. Many buyers store garlic in cold storages and lose all their money. The cold storages are demanding storage fees and electricity bills. . . Many people said, "I can't afford the money. I don't want the garlic. You can just watch and deal with it. Then I can't contact anyone on the phone."
Rumors spread everywhere that someone jumped off the building at a loss! It was really not sensational at the time!
Just this year, he followed this friend to buy the bottom, spending all his savings, and neither of them felt confident! Because the cost is extremely low, many of them are purchased only for the cost of cold storage. That is to say, that year, garlic made a huge comeback. From a few cents per pound, it skyrocketed to nearly ten yuan per pound at its peak! No one knows how much he saved at that time, but they only know that he quickly exchanged hundreds of thousands of dollars for a car and bought two houses! The next year, he went to the village to contract another 100 acres of garlic. During the harvest season, he went directly to the fields and handed over 4,500 acres per acre directly to the farmers. He hired someone to dig out the garlic on the same day, managed it himself, and started drying it. Arrive in storage!
This year, the price of garlic continued to run at a high level. He was deceived out of his one hundred acres of garlic, and his brother who went to Shenzhen had to take away fifty acres. Despite this, he still made a fortune that year. During this period, we continued to purchase and store dried garlic. A rough estimate is that in two years, he earned more than 10 million. People around him say he is a multi-millionaire!
This is the most legendary fate-turner I have ever encountered! When good fortune comes, even if you don't want to do something, there will be something invisible pushing you forward
We have a very famous fortune teller here, an old man in his seventies, who makes accurate predictions Many people's horoscopes include those who are officials, those who are in business, those who go to school, etc. There is only one person who does not believe in destiny. He is a retired high school English teacher who has been doing good deeds for nearly ten years. As a result, his life has been extended by more than ten years than the fortune teller predicted. This is something that the older generation in our town knows. Everyone knows it.
Life has a certain destiny, which can only be solved by doing more good deeds. Good and evil will be rewarded in the end. There are gods who can see all the good and evil in the world and reward and punish the good and evil.
When people are alive, they should do more good deeds, accumulate more virtues, have more kind thoughts, and always insist on doing one good thing every day. This is the right way to accumulate merit and blessings for yourself, your children, and your family! Blessings and Immeasurable Heavenly Lord