Most people want to change their destiny, but few succeed — not because fate is fixed, but because they cannot confront their own faults. Before goodness can bring fortune, one must first remove the roots of misfortune. And those roots are always the same: unchecked emotions, uncontrolled desires, and the absence of shame. These lead directly to suffering, illness, moral decline, and even the endless cycle of rebirth within the Six Realms. This chapter reveals the real starting point of transforming one’s destiny: correcting faults, restraining desires, and restoring the conscience.
The Foundation of Changing Destiny: Correcting Faults Before Practicing Goodness 🌿
If we wish to obtain blessings and avoid misfortune in this life, before speaking about practicing goodness, we must first correct our faults.
What we are now discussing — “the foundation of correcting faults” — is precisely the principle of avoiding misfortune and seeking good fortune by making fault-correction the first priority.
Before talking about doing good deeds or accumulating virtue, one must first correct one’s errors.
If faults cannot be corrected, or are corrected only superficially, then even if one practices goodness, that goodness will be mixed with impurities — good mixed with evil — making the merit impure and its results difficult to manifest. Therefore, correcting faults is the prerequisite for accumulating goodness.
Why “A Sense of Shame” Is the First Requirement in Correcting Faults 🪷
Shame as the Root of Self-Transformation
When correcting faults, the first requirement is to give rise to a sense of shame (羞耻心).
Reflect on the ancient sages and worthies — they were human beings just like us. How is it that they became teachers and exemplars for hundreds of generations, while we allow ourselves to be fragmented and broken down by worldly defilements, indulging in desires, engaging in private acts of unrighteousness, assuming others cannot see, and feeling no shame?
Day by day we sink toward the level of animals, yet remain unaware. There is nothing in this world more shameful than this.
Mencius(孟子) said:
“Shame is of utmost importance to a person. With shame one becomes a sage; without it, one becomes no different from animals.”
This is the crucial point in correcting faults. Mr. Liao-Fan listed three essential elements for correcting faults. The first is a sense of shame.
A person who can feel shame will never give rise to reckless thoughts or evil intentions. Placing “shame” as the first element shows its profound importance. Why can ordinary people not become sages? The root of this illness lies precisely here. This teaching reveals the true cause of our failure. We should therefore constantly reflect:
• The ancient sages and worthies were human beings just like us.
• The Buddhist sutras also teach that all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas began as ordinary beings, cultivating step by step.
• Confucius and Shakyamuni Buddha, though separated from us by thousands of years, are still universally respected by people across nations, ethnicities, and even religions.
Why could the great saints, sages, Buddhas, and Bodhisattvas become teachers admired for hundreds of generations — but we cannot?
With this standard in mind, a sense of shame naturally arises. If a person constantly reflects in this way, they will surely become diligent, motivated, and self-strengthening.
Emotions and Desires: The Root of Endless Suffering 🔥💭
The Nature of Attachment and Defilement
“Why am I like a shattered clay vessel — completely worthless?” “Becoming attached to worldly desires” is our deep-rooted flaw.
• “Attachment” means excessive indulgence in pleasure.
• “Defilement” means being polluted.
• “Dust” refers to the Five Desires (wealth, sex, fame, food, sleep) and the Six Sense Objects (forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touch, and dharmas).
These are things one must restrain. If we allow ourselves to indulge without control, the consequences will be unimaginable.
People in the world cling to the seven emotions and five desires, not knowing that emotional craving is not real. Although there may be temporary pleasure, the price one pays is extremely heavy and never worth it.
The Buddha explained this to us in detail:
the price of indulgence is the continuation of birth and death within the Six Realms (六道生死轮回).
In this world, there is no suffering and no terror greater than this.
How Sages Live in the World Without Being Controlled by Desire 🌙✨
From this we can understand that although sages and virtuous people live in the world and appear to blend in with the dust of everyday life, they are never controlled by the seven emotions and five desires. They are able to lighten and reduce emotional cravings, and their conduct always aligns with proper decorum and righteous principles.
“Ritual propriety (Li 礼)” means moderation — not falling short and not going to excess. Falling short violates propriety, yet excess also violates propriety.
In the teachings of ancient sages, families maintained clear order; husbands and wives treated each other with mutual respect, like honored guests. Everything had proper measure and boundaries. There was absolutely no indulgence in emotional cravings or sensual attachments — and for this reason, families lived in harmony.
Cherishing Life and Understanding Moderation 🌱🕊️
To put it simply, people enjoy indulging in the seven emotions and five desires, but they cherish their own lives even more. When the last moment comes when they must give something up, they can generally let go of the seven emotions and five desires — but they are unwilling to give up their own life, and they even wish to live long. This is human nature.
If you wish for longevity, then you must understand moderation in all aspects of daily life. The ancients said: “Illness enters through the mouth, and disaster comes out of the mouth.”
If you wish to stay away from disaster, your speech and attitude must be handled with great caution; and if you want to maintain good health, your diet and daily habits must also be approached with the same careful discipline.
The Benefits of a Proper Lifestyle: A Real-Life Example 🌾🧘♂️
Those who seek health and longevity today do not understand the proper way to nurture life, and instead cause their bodies to weaken. When I first began studying Buddhism, I understood that a vegetarian diet benefits one’s health, so I made the decision to become fully vegetarian. At that time, some senior officials, classmates, and friends advised me:
“Studying Buddhism is fine, but you don’t have to follow everything in Buddhism.”
However, when they saw me decades later—in my fifties and sixties—their attitudes completely changed. They all said, “The path you chose was the right one.” Another twenty years passed, and when they saw me again, every one of them admired how my appearance had changed and how my physical constitution had improved. This is the first benefit I gained from practicing Buddhism.
Last year, the Australian government granted me permanent residency, and according to the regulations, I was required to undergo a medical examination. After the examination, the doctor said:
“Master, this medical check-up was unnecessary for you. What nutritional supplements do you take?”
I replied, “I do not take any nutritional supplements.”
Why? Because all those things have side effects. The simpler one’s lifestyle, the better. I read every day, get up a little after six in the morning, and go to bed around midnight. After lunch, if there is nothing to do, I rest for a short while; if there are things to do, I can skip resting entirely—my energy remains full, and my work is normal. So, can one still say that a vegetarian diet lacks nutrition? I can testify that it does not.
Many monastics have excellent health; they eat well, some even plump and strong, and none of them eat meat.
The True Causes of Health and Long Life 🌤️💗
The true foundation of health lies in a pure and unclouded mind, free from delusion and scattered thoughts.
Next is living in accordance with proper conduct — orderly, disciplined eating and daily habits, firmly avoiding indulgence in the five desires and six sense objects, as well as fame, profit-seeking, greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance, and complacency. These are the true causes of health.
Letting things follow their natural course without clinging or chasing after anything — this is the supporting condition for health.
When both the true cause and the supporting condition are present, the fruit of health will naturally manifest.
Being Upright in Private: The Test of True Character 🔍🌑
“Private actions that are unrighteous” — ‘unrighteous’ refers to things that should not be done. A person who truly values moral cultivation is extremely cautious. Whether dealing with people, situations, or objects, one must always ask:
“Should I do this? Should I say this?”
‘Thinking others do not know’—believing that others are unaware—is a major delusion. The ancients said: ‘If you don’t want others to know, then don’t do it yourself.’ No matter how tightly something is concealed, it will eventually be exposed. How could there ever be anything that no one knows about?
A Major Error: Arrogance Without Shame ⚠️😔
Another common error is being “Arrogant and without shame”:
• ‘Arrogant’ means pride and conceit.
• ‘Without shame’ means having no sense of remorse or guilt.
Shame (惭) is the reproach of one’s own conscience; guilt (愧) is the criticism and judgment from others.
When such a person is criticized by others, they feel nothing at all — their face is thick, they are utterly unfazed.
If a person continues to act in such a shameless and arrogant way, the karmic result will definitely be rebirth in the Three Evil Realms — and they still won’t realize it themselves.
✨ 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.
What is the true reason we must correct faults before cultivating goodness?
Because goodness cannot take root in an impure mind.
If hidden faults remain uncorrected, then every good deed becomes polluted by ego, desire, pride, or expectation — turning “good karma” into mixed karma.
A single drop of ink clouds clear water; likewise, one uncorrected fault clouds all virtue.
✨ Pure virtue requires a purified heart — and purification begins with correcting faults.
How do sages live in the world without being controlled by desires?
They do not suppress desires through force —
they dissolve desires through clarity.
Sages understand the temporary nature of pleasure, so they naturally return to moderation, propriety (礼), and inner stability.
Their boundaries are clear, their emotions balanced, their conduct steady.
Because their mind does not chase outward illusions,
their life becomes harmonious, structured, and free from the chaos created by uncontrolled desires.
✨ Where there is moderation, there is harmony.
Where there is clarity, desire loses its power.
Why is a “sense of shame” the foundation of all self-transformation?
Shame (惭愧心) is not weakness — it is the awakening of conscience.
It is the moment a person sees themselves honestly.
It prevents wrongdoing before it starts, silences reckless thoughts, and restores moral clarity.
Without shame → a person becomes blinded by desire, arrogance, and self-justification.
With shame → a person becomes teachable, disciplined, self-reflective, and capable of deep moral growth.
✨ Shame is the switch that turns on the inner light. Without it, the path to becoming a sage remains forever closed.
Why do emotions and desires trap us in the intense suffering of the Six Realms?
Because unchecked emotions and desires create karma, and karma forces beings to continue cycling through the Six Realms of Rebirth — the greatest suffering explained by the Buddha.
The Three Good Realms (Heavenly beings, Asuras, Humans) still experience aging, sickness, death, loss, and uncertainty.
But the Three Evil Realms contain suffering beyond anything humans can imagine:
- Hell Realm (地狱) — continuous torture, extreme heat, cold, terror, and endless pain with no pause.
- Hungry Ghost Realm (饿鬼) — perpetual starvation and thirst; even when food appears, it turns into fire and pus.
- Animal Realm (畜生) — constant fear, being hunted, enslaved, beaten, killed, or eaten.
Compared to these:
Human suffering is mild — because we still have morality, intelligence, and the rare freedom to practice the Dharma.
But once emotions and desires dominate the mind, a person becomes driven by greed, anger, ignorance, and indulgence.
This directly creates karma that leads downward into the Three Evil Realms — where suffering is immeasurable, and escaping is extremely difficult.
🔑 Thus, emotional and sensual indulgence is not merely a “bad habit”—it is the root cause of endless rebirth and unimaginable suffering.
What truly determines health, longevity, and inner well-being?
Health is not built by supplements or external aids —
but by the state of the mind and the discipline of daily life.
- A mind free of greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance, and distraction
- Eating and sleeping with order and moderation
- Avoiding sensory overindulgence
- Acting upright both publicly and in private
- Letting things follow their natural course without grasping
When inner purity (true cause) and outer discipline (supporting condition) come together,
health, clarity, and longevity arise naturally — without being pursued.
✨ A calm mind is the best medicine; a disciplined life is the strongest foundation.
✨ Coming Next...
Next week in The Four Lessons of Liao-Fan Series #17:
🌺 This week, we explored the first of the Three Hearts for correcting faults — the Heart of Shame (耻心), the starting point of all moral transformation.
Next week, we will continue with the second essential heart:✨ the Heart of Fear and Reverence (畏心).
And in the following chapter,
🔥 we will hear Master Chin Kung recount true stories of ghosts and spirits — powerful real-life lessons showing how karma, virtue, and the unseen world operate.
Stay tuned. 🙏
📚 Source: Venerable Master Chin Kung’s lecture on The Four Lessons of Liao-Fan, delivered on April 16, 2001, on Phoenix TV