Narrator: The following section is Master Yun Gu's advice to Liao-Fan, using the views of worldly folk, persuading him to cultivate virtue.
Master Yun Gu: Bearing children is similar to bearing fruit from seeds, if the seeds are planted well, so will the fruits they bear. If the seeds are not planted well, then the fruits will become malnourished. For example, if a person has accumulat ed enough merit and virtue for a hundred generations, then he or she will have descendants to last a hundred generations. One who accumulates enough merit and virtue to last ten generations will then have ten generations of descendants to live out that fortune. The same goes for three generations or two generations. For those who have no descendants at all, it is because they have not accumulated enough good merit and virtue - they may have amassed sins instead!
Master Yun Gu: Now that you recognize your own shortcomings, you can work to change and reform the misdeeds which cause you to not have a son or become an imperial official. You must cultivate virtue, tolerance, and treat others with compassion and harmony. You must also care for your health and conserve your energy and spirit. Live as though everything of the past dissolved yesterday, and all of the future begins today. If you can accomplish this, then you are a person bom anew. If even our physical body is governed by the law of fate, then how can a mind of virtue and discipline not evoke a response from heaven? As said in the Tai Ja Chapter in the Chinese Book of History,
Narrator: 'One may run from the decrees of heaven, but one can never escape the retribution for one's own evil deeds'. In other words, one can alter the retribution due from past deeds, but if one continues to behave immorally, then there is no chance of avoiding disaster.
Master Yun Gu: It is also said in the Book of Poems,
Narrator: 'A person should often reflect upon his own thoughts and actions, to see if they accord with the ways of heaven. If one practices such, then fortune will come without being sought. The choice to seek either good fortune or to bring about adversity is all up to you.'
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