Good Deeds

Good Deeds

A story I heard from my Chinese teacher (so the story is probably from China)...

Once upon a time (sorry couldn't think of a better start), there was this guy (let's name him Tom).
As a kid, Tom always liked travelling up the mountains near his home. One day he met a fortune teller on the mountain who offered to read his fortune.

Tom being the young, adventurous and curious kid he is agreed and this is what the fortune teller told him:
1) There's no point working hard because you will never be able to achieve great success
2) You will never get married and will not have children
3) You wil die by the age of 50

*Keep reading if you want to see how Tom's life changes*

 

No success...no woman...no offspring...no longevity... Tom was shaken. But he accepted his fate and carried on with life. (You definitely have to admire him just for this part)

So Tom decided to just sit around and have fun and basically just slack through life. (Not really advisable)

 

*Its not the end yet, keep reading*

 

Several years pass and Tom was now a youth. One day, he was brought to a temple for a visit. (Just one of those trips)

A monk saw him and asked if he would like to meditate with him. Tom, having nothing better to do, obviously agreed.

 

After 3 days of non-stop meditation, the monk turned to Tom and said, "Who is this great master I've found?? Most beginners will give up after an hour! Oh great Master teach me your ways" (I may have exagerated the story abit but that's the gist of what he said)

Tom looked at him and calmly replied, "Oh, you're mistaken. I'm no great master, I just have nothing better to do in life" Tom goes on to tell the monk about the fortune teller and all.

The Monk sighs looks at him and says, "So you are just a normal person afterall...What the fortune teller says may be true, but you can change your destiny by changing a few things." 

Tom's reaction?

 

"What do I need to do?"

"First, you need to change your mindset. Second, and most importantly, doing good deeds can change one's destiny"

And to prove his point, the monk gave Tom 2 bowls and 2 bags of beans (red beans and green beans). Everytime Tom did a good deed, he placed one green bean in a bowl, everytime he did a bad deed, he placed one red bean in the other bowl.

From here, Tom started to study hard, and worked towards being a government official. (Back in ancient China, becoming a government official was only for the scholars and super smart people -correct me if i'm worng)

and guess what, by his late 20s (or early 30s) he was already quite a well known official, known for his kindness and good deeds. (so much for no great success)

 

Tom goes back to the monk and says, "ok I've done the first part, how do I get myself a wife?"

The monk tells him that he has to accumulate more good deeds, which he does. 

 

Here's a story of what he did:

Being an Official in the government, Tom sees prisoners quite often. One day, he saw a new batch of prisoners enter the prison. They were famished and the prison did not have anymore food as there was a drought or some disaster which caused the shortage. Anyways, he himself only had one bag of grain left for the entire month. But does this stop him from doing good deeds? no. He took his own bag of grain, made porridge and gave it to the prisoners. Yes you read that right, he fed convicts. (Is this man awesome or what!)

 

Eventually, he gets married and even has 2 kids.

 

But wait, how about the dying at 50 part? By now Tom was already in his early 40s so time was really running out. This is what the monk told him:

 

"Do 10 000 good deeds"

 

 



Now for those who don't understand what 10 000 good deeds in 10 years is, that's like helping an old lady cross the street 10 000 times within 10 years, there aren't even 10 000 days..

 

But Tom was motivated and he started helping people and doing good deeds like never before...

10 years pass and on the night before his 50th birthday, Tom told himself "i tried" and went to bed.

 

Tom died...........

 

 

...........................nah kidding this is what happened:

 

That night God came to him in a dream and told him "Congratulations Tom, you can live past 50." Tom couldn't believe it, he asked, "How could this be possible? i haven't even done 10 000 good deeds yet!" God replied, "but you did! As an official you gave numerous orders which did not just help 1 person at a time but hundreds and even thousands!"

Basically, Tom thanked God profusely and the next morning, he continued with his life.

Tom died from old age like most people and the story ends on a good note. Not to mention how he continued to accumilate good deeds yeah :)

 

 

Some of us have consigned ourselves to a sad fate. I do fall in that category myself. Although I did work on changing my own mindset, so now I see things in a happier light. But honestly speaking, Whether it's to live long, have kids, get success, or whatever, doing good deeds is a must in life.

Doing good deeds should be like breathing. There is nothing to lose and everything to gain when you do a good deed. So how about it? Do a good deed today? :)

 

 

Leave a comment or follow me on twitter: @toranseth and give me some feedback :)

*Special thanks to everyone who has been giving me tips on how to improve this blog, will get to it this weekend :)*

Always Lifting You Higher