What words did Lin Zexu leave to his children?
Lin Zexu left ten words to his children, as follows:
1. Feng shui is useless if you have bad intentions
The best feng shui lies in the human heart. Blessed people live in a blessed land, and a blessed land brings blessed people to live in. If the heart is kind, the magnetic field will be good, and the feng shui inspired by it will also be good. If the heart is evil, no matter how good the feng shui is, it will be destroyed. "Tai Shang Induction Chapter" says that there is no way for misfortunes and blessings, only the heart calls for it. A person's good and bad fortunes are all inspired by the good and evil in his own mind.
2. If your parents are not filial, there is no point in worshiping gods
To be filial to your parents at home, there is no need to burn incense far away. Being filial to your parents is equivalent to making offerings to the Buddha. The kindness our parents have for us is higher than the mountains and deeper than the sea. If a person is not filial to his parents, then his kindness and concern for others are also fake. If you serve God with a hypocritical heart instead of a sincere heart, God will be unable to help you.
3. Friendships are useless if brothers are at odds
Family is a microcosm of society. You can't live in harmony with your brothers and sisters, and you can't be honest with your friends. The ancients advocated the principle of filial piety and brotherhood because it is the source of all good deeds. When filial piety is done well, the family can be harmonious and society can be stable.
4. Reading is useless if you behave badly
In Confucian terms, reading is for self-cultivation, family order, country governance, and world peace. Whether it is regulating the family or bringing peace to the world, it must be based on self-cultivation. Improper behavior and failure to perfect oneself means that even the most basic self-cultivation has not been achieved. So what is the real meaning of studying?
5. Being arrogant and arrogant is useless to be knowledgeable
The ancients have a saying, "Scholarship comes first and literature and art come second." Whether a person will succeed in the future depends on his virtue and magnanimity. . Arrogant people are often narrow-minded and intolerant of others; and because they are not virtuous enough, they like to use their talents to oppress others. In this way, being knowledgeable and talented does not achieve them, but brings disaster to them.
6. Being eccentric and smart is of no use
Without rules, you can’t be a square. Being smart also requires following the rules. People who act erratically are extremely paranoid and do not follow moral principles and rules. The smarter such a person is, the more dangerous they are. As the saying goes, be a person first and do things later. If you have problems with your life, are not kind, and have bad intentions, you will easily go astray, harming others and yourself.
7. Taking medicine is useless if you don’t care about your vitality
Vitality is the foundation of the human body. If your vitality is sufficient, your body will be healthy. If your vitality is damaged, you will get sick. If you don't take care of this root, no matter how good the medicine is, it will be a waste of time and will only relieve the symptoms temporarily. If we don’t change our mindset, keep staying up late, overeating, and doing things that harm our vitality, our health will only get further and further away from us.
8. If the fortune is not favorable, it is useless to seek in vain
It is up to people to plan things, but to achieve them is up to God. The reason why something is accomplished depends not only on people's subjective efforts, but also on objective conditions such as the right time and place. If the time has not arrived or is not mature, you must learn to lie dormant and wait for changes, rather than act rashly, otherwise it will not only be useless, but also bring disaster.
9. Taking money from others in vain, giving away is useless
A gentleman loves money and takes it in a wise way. Taking other people's money is inherently unjust. Giving away ill-gotten gains is a hypocritical act. There is no merit in such charity.
10. Excessive sexual desires and unbridled desires are useless
If a person indulges in excessive sexual desires and does not know how to exercise restraint, no matter how much blessings he has, he will be exhausted. No matter how generous the ancestors were, it was of no use.
The opposite of ten useless things is ten beneficial things. The former allows us to take a warning, and the latter allows us to actively imitate. Ten useless words are good words, which are not only the standard for Lin Zexu's self-cultivation, but also the principle for educating children.