Liao-Fan: That night, after your mother (i.e. Liao Fan’s wife) spoke these words, I dreamed of a heavenly being, and told him of my difficulty in completing the ten thousand kind deeds. The heavenly being said to me:
Heavenly being: When you became mayor, you reduced the taxes on the rice fields, that was a great kind deed, and that deed itself was worth ten thousand merits. Your vow is already fulfilled!
Liao-Fan: As it turned out, the farmers in Bao-di prefecture had to pay a very high tax, and when I came to office, I reduced the taxes on the rice fields by nearly half But still, I felt strange...
Narrator: How did the heavenly being know about the tax deduction? Liao-Fan still held doubts and wondered how a single deed could be worth ten thousand merits.
Liao-Fan: Coincidentally, the Zen Master Huan-yu was traveling from the Five Plateau Mountains and stopped in Bao-di. I invited him over and told him of my dream, and asked whether it was believable.
Master Huan-yu said:
Master Huan-Yu: When doing kind deeds, one must be true and sincere, and not seek any rewards, or act with falsity. If one does a kind deed with such a true and sincere heart, then one deed can indeed be worth the merit from ten thousand kind deeds. Besides, your act of reducing the taxes in this prefecture benefits more than ten thousand people; you have relieved the suffering of heavy taxes on all these farmers. The fortune you will gain from this act will surely be great!
Liao-Fan: Upon hearing his words, I was overwhelmed with gratitude and immediately gave a month's salary for him to take back to the Five-Plateau Mountains as donation. I asked the Master to use the money to offer food for ten thousand monks and dedicate the merits for me.
Liao-Fan: Mr. Kong had predicted that I would die at the age of fifty-three. However, I survived that year with no illnesses though I did not ask the heavens for a longer life. Now I am sixty-nine, and I have lived sixteen more years than what was destined!
Liao-Fan:The Chinese Book of History had said:
Narrator: 'The way of the Heavens is undetermined, and neither is one's destiny. It is also said that, 'Destiny is not set, but is only created and determined by oneself'
Liao-Fan: These are all true, and I have come to understand that both fortune and adversity are all results of one's own doings. These are truly the words of sages and saints! If one is to say that fortune and adversity are all determined by the heavens, then I would consider that person to be mundane and common.
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