Chapter 4 Greed is a trap, vanity is ups and downs

There must be a deep meaning in God's creation of man, but we mortals have limited aptitude, and after countless ages, no one has yet realized the true meaning. Is it lamentable or gratifying? Greed, vanity, people are always unable to avoid these "evils".There is a saying in Buddhism: Everything starts with greed.So just imagine, whether your failure, depravity and injury are due to the word "greed".As for vanity, when you walk through Huaihai Road where famous brands gather, do you feel so uneasy in your heart, why the people holding hands around you can’t satisfy your wishes, why are the Mercedes-Benz and BMW passing by you sitting in others instead of others? not you...

A man dreams of owning the whole world, money, reputation, family, love... At the end, he still feels depressed about carrying these "possessions".When a man falls in love with a woman, he often feels fear. He can't afford a woman's life, but he longs for more women to be his support.A woman needs a safe harbor, but it also needs to be strong enough and long enough. Rimano said, "I'd rather sit in a BMW and cry." Similarly, Qin Fen said, "Life is a kind of practice." There is a king, the world is in his hands, logically, he should be satisfied, but it is not the case.

The King himself wondered why he was still dissatisfied with his life. Although he also consciously attended some interesting dinners and parties, it was of no avail, and he always felt that there was something missing. One day, the king got up early and decided to wander around the palace. When the king walked to the imperial dining room, he heard someone humming a little song happily. Filled with happiness and joy.The king was very surprised, so he summoned the cook for questioning.The king asked him why he was so happy?The cook replied: "Your Majesty, although I am only a cook, I have always tried my best to make my wife and children happy. We don't need much. A thatched hut above our heads and warm food in our stomachs are enough. My wife and kids are my anchor, and I bring home even one little thing to satisfy them. The reason I'm so happy every day is because my family is happy every day."

Hearing this, the king asked the cook to go down first, then summoned the prime minister and asked him about the matter, the prime minister replied: "Your Majesty, I believe this cook has not yet become a 99 family." The king asked in surprise: "99 family? What is the 99 family?" The prime minister replied: "Your Majesty, if you want to know exactly what the 99 family is, please do this first thing, put ninety-nine gold coins in a bag, and then put this bag in the At the door of that cook, you will soon understand what the 99 family is." As the prime minister had said, the king ordered the cloth bag containing ninety-nine gold coins to be placed in front of the happy cook's door.

When the cook came home, he found the cloth bag in front of the door. His curiosity made him take the bag into the room. When he opened the bag, he was surprised at first, then ecstatic: gold coins!All gold coins!So many gold coins!The cook dumped all the gold coins in the bag on the table and began to count the gold coins, ninety-nine?The cook thought it should not be this number, so he counted over and over again, and it was indeed ninety-nine.He began to wonder: there is no reason there are only ninety-nine pieces?No one will only install ninety-nine pieces?So where did that gold coin go?The cook began to search, he searched the whole room, and then the whole yard, until he was exhausted, he was completely desperate, and his heart was extremely depressed.He decided that starting tomorrow, he would work harder and earn one gold coin as soon as possible so that his wealth would reach one hundred gold coins.

He woke up a little late the next morning because of the night's toil, and was in a bad mood, yelling at his wife and children for not waking him up in time, which hindered his grand goal of earning a gold coin as soon as possible. realization.He hurried to the imperial dining room, no longer in the same high spirits as before, neither humming nor whistling, but just immersed himself in his work, not noticing that the king was watching him quietly. Seeing the cook's mood change so much, the king was very puzzled. He summoned the prime minister and asked the prime minister why the cook had such a big mood change. He should be ecstatic to get so many gold coins!

The prime minister replied: "Your Majesty, this cook has now officially joined the 99 family. "The 99s are the kind of people who have a lot, but are never satisfied. They work hard for that extra '1', and they are eager to achieve '100' as soon as possible. There are so many things to be happy about in life. and satisfaction, because the possibility of making up 100 suddenly appeared, everything was broken, he tried his best to pursue the meaningless '1', at the cost of losing happiness, this is the 99 family."