善者福来，不善者招灾 🌿
In Lesson Fifteen of Liao-Fan’s Four Lessons, we enter a deeper understanding of how blessings arise and how misfortune takes form. Master Chin Kung reminds us that a person’s destiny is not written in stone—rather, it unfolds from the purity or impurity of one’s own thoughts. By recognizing our faults, correcting them with humility, and nurturing goodness in every moment, we begin to transform not only our immediate circumstances, but the karmic currents that shape our future. This is the path where inner awakening becomes outer fortune, and where the heart quietly rewrites destiny.
Awakening Through Morning and Evening Practice ✨
In Buddhism, it is often said that one should “awaken.” What does awakening mean? To recognize one’s own faults is awakening. If you can correct your faults, that is called true cultivation.
For those who study the Buddha’s teachings, the most important practice is the morning and evening recitation. These sessions are not for the Buddha or Bodhisattvas to hear, but for us to awaken our own mind.
🌅 Morning recitation serves as a reminder — to begin the day with mindfulness, to treat people and matters with sincerity, and to act according to the Buddha’s teachings.
🌙 Evening recitation is for reflection — to ask yourself: What did I do right today? What did I do wrong?
If you did well, continue tomorrow; if you made mistakes, correct them the next day. Practicing this way, your morning and evening recitations will generate true merit.
“Know your faults daily, and correct them daily” — this is the true purpose of morning and evening practice.
Establishing Destiny (立命之学) 📘
云谷禅师所授立命之说。乃至精至邃至真至正之理。其熟玩而勉行之。毋自旷也。
The teachings of Chan Master Yungu on establishing destiny were of the utmost depth, truth, and precision — perfectly genuine, without even the slightest trace of delusion or distortion.
🧿 Through his lifelong effort in cultivation, Mr. Liao-Fan truly transformed his destiny:
- Although his fate originally contained no academic success, he attained it;
- Although his fate said he would have no children, he had a son;
- Although his lifespan was predicted to end at fifty-three, he lived to seventy-four.
This fully proves that Chan Master Yungu’s guidance was completely correct and reliable.
Mr. Liao-Fan wrote these lessons to instruct his descendants, hoping that future generations would cherish and apply these precious principles and methods. His wish was for all people to understand the study of establishing destiny — to transform their own fate through moral cultivation.
If these teachings were practiced by individuals, families, communities, and nations — even extending throughout the entire world — people everywhere would live in happiness, with stable societies and a peaceful world.
Methods of Correcting Faults (改过之法) 🌱
Why “Correcting Faults” Comes First 🔍
The methods of “Correcting Faults” and “Cultivating Virtue” are the core teachings of this book.
According to the structure commonly used in Buddhist scriptures, the first chapter serves as the introduction, the second and third are the main teachings, and the final chapter is the conclusion.
Viewed this way, we can understand the full intent of Liao-Fan’s Four Lessons: once one comprehends the study of establishing destiny, the next step is to begin with correcting one’s faults.
Human beings are not born as sages — how could we possibly be without faults? Confucius said, “When you realize your mistake, do not hesitate to correct it.”
We must not fear making mistakes; instead, we must have courage, determination, and perseverance to correct them.
Even small faults must be corrected sincerely.
Ordinary people often drift along carelessly — ignoring minor wrongs, dismissing small mistakes, and neglecting subtle unwholesome thoughts.
But small faults can grow into great faults, and minor evils, when allowed to persist, will eventually turn into grave evils — leading to consequences beyond imagination.
Understanding the Signs of Blessings and Misfortune 🌤️⚡
The first part of “Correcting Faults” teaches the reason for correction: avoiding misfortune and welcoming blessings is natural to all people.
We must understand that good or bad fortune always shows signs beforehand.
During the Spring and Autumn period, great ministers of state could often predict a person’s fortune or misfortune merely by observing their words and actions — and their predictions were rarely wrong.
This is recorded in classical works such as Zuo Zhuan (The Commentary of Zuo), Guoyu (Discourses of the States), The Gongyang Commentary, and The Guliang Commentary.
These officials were highly knowledgeable and experienced. By observing a person’s behavior and listening to their speech, they could foresee whether that person would meet with good fortune or calamity — and such insights were remarkably accurate.
By citing these ancient examples, Liao-Fan reminds us that blessings and misfortunes do not occur without signs — they arise as natural results of our own conduct and mind.
Thoughts Give Rise to Fortune and Misfortune (萌乎心而动乎四体) 💭➡️行动
大都吉凶之兆。萌乎心而动乎四体。
When a person harbors thoughts of goodness or evil, the resulting actions of virtue or wrongdoing may deceive ordinary people, but they can never deceive those with true virtue and wisdom.
I had three teachers — Mr. Fang Dongmei, Master Zhangjia, and Layman Li Bingnan.
All three possessed this remarkable insight; they could see a person’s destiny and character with great clarity.
When meeting people, they would sometimes remark:
“This person’s destiny is thin — lacking blessings and longevity.”
“That person has a pure and kind heart, diligently accumulates virtue and merit, and will surely receive blessings in the future.”
Toward those whose blessings were few, my teachers always felt deep compassion. They would gently guide them to correct their faults, cultivate virtue, and recreate their destiny.
When I was young, I too belonged to those with shallow blessings and a short lifespan.
Because I sincerely listened to my teachers’ advice, they felt great compassion for me and earnestly taught me how to transform my fate and accumulate blessings through self-cultivation.
The Heart Reveals Itself Through Conduct 🌸
萌乎心而动乎四体
Our thoughts and intentions naturally manifest through our words and actions.
Those with deep kindness are often blessed; those with selfish and shallow hearts tend to invite misfortune.
The ordinary eye, clouded by ignorance, assumes that fortune and misfortune are random and unpredictable — but in truth, there are definite principles behind them.
When a person has a kind and generous heart, treats others with sincerity, and always considers others’ well-being, this person is destined to receive blessings.
In contrast, one who is narrow-minded, always thinking only of self-interest, and who gains by harming others, is a person of shallow blessings.
Even if such a person enjoys temporary good fortune, it is merely the remainder of blessings from their past karma.
Because their current conduct is unwholesome, their remaining fortune is gradually diminished.
Yet, if they were to nurture kind thoughts and perform good deeds, their blessings would not only last throughout their lifetime but would also extend to their descendants for generations.
However, ordinary people without true understanding are like those whose vision is clouded by cataracts — they see nothing clearly.
They mistakenly believe that blessings and misfortunes are uncertain and impossible to foresee.
But those with true wisdom and moral virtue clearly perceive the reality:
✨ Blessings and misfortune arise directly from one’s heart, speech, and actions.
Foreseeing Fortune and Misfortune (至诚合天) 🔮
至诚合天。福之将至。观其善而必先知之矣。祸之将至。观其不善而必先知之矣。
This passage explains that blessings and misfortunes can indeed be foreseen — they can be predicted with remarkable accuracy.
Can we also gain this ability? The answer is yes.
To attain it, we must embody the principle of “utmost sincerity aligned with Heaven” (至诚合天).
🌟 When our thoughts and intentions accord with the natural law — which is the law of Heaven — and we harbor not even a trace of falsehood, discrimination, or selfish desire, but instead maintain a mind that is sincere, pure, calm, and balanced, this ability naturally manifests.
If a person’s heart is kind, their words are kind, and their actions are kind; if they treat others with honesty and fairness, we can foresee that their blessings are soon to come.
⚠️ Conversely, if one’s thoughts, words, and actions are unwholesome, their misfortunes are gradually approaching.
This principle applies not only to individuals but also to families, societies, nations, and even the entire world — it is universally true.
Therefore, we must deeply reflect on our own thoughts, speech, and actions.
If our hearts are pure and kind, we can be certain that disasters will fade and blessings will arise.
But if our minds are impure, our words deceitful, and our behavior harmful, we must be alert — calamity draws nearer day by day.
From individuals to families, from societies to nations and the world, this law of cause and effect never fails.
✨ Essential Questions & Takeaways
Here are the central questions drawn from this chapter’s teaching. They are designed to clarify the main ideas and help you integrate the lesson into your daily thoughts and actions.
In this lesson, what does “awakening” mean in Buddhism?
Awakening means clearly seeing one’s own faults, and true cultivation means sincerely correcting those faults day after day.
Why, after understanding “the study of establishing destiny” (立命之学), must we immediately move on to learning the “methods of correcting faults”?
Because once we know destiny can be changed, the real starting point of changing it is not in prediction or calculation, but in correcting our own faults here and now.
According to this teaching, what kind of mindset tends to attract blessings, and what kind tends to invite misfortune?
A kind, generous, “thick” heart that truly cares for others tends to attract blessings; a selfish, narrow, “thin” heart that harms others for personal gain tends to invite misfortune.
Can blessings and disasters really be foreseen? If so, how should ordinary people make use of this idea?
Yes—by observing a person’s thoughts, words, and actions, one can often foresee whether blessings or misfortune are approaching; for ordinary people, this is not for judging others, but for checking our own mind and behavior and correcting them in time.
How can we use the law of cause and effect to cultivate our own mind in daily life?
By seeing every blessing or difficulty as a result of our own past thoughts and actions, using it as a mirror to examine ourselves, correct faults, nurture kindness, and steadily change our future through present causes.
✨ Coming Next...
Next week in The Four Lessons of Liao-Fan Series #16: 🌺 Master Chin Kung will reveal how real “change of destiny” begins with 改过 (true repentance and reform)—and he’ll also share the simple habits that have kept him healthy and energetic into old age.
📚 Source: Venerable Master Chin Kung’s lecture on The Four Lessons of Liao-Fan, delivered on April 16, 2001, on Phoenix TV