Grandmaster Tse’s Qìgōng Dāo 氣功道 304

The Rich Merchant with Four Wives – Part 3

The second wife was the most beautiful and talented of all the Rich Merchant’s wives. She made him richer, more successful and helped him get whatever he wanted in his life. The second wife represents money and investment. How was she forced to be with him? None of us are born with money and riches. We have to make them be part of our lives and when we die, we cannot take any of it with us.

The Rich Merchant’s third wife was still beautiful, but not as beautiful as the second wife. However, she took care of his home, his children and his welfare. She represents his actual real partner- his real wife. Of course, when we pass away our partners cannot go with us since we all pass away at different times. We cannot take anyone else with us. This is the reason the first, second and third wives could not go with the Rich Merchant, and this means the things that they represent cannot go with us when we die.

The fourth wife however could go with him, what was the reason for this? This is because the fourth wife represents the Rich Merchant’s true nature, behaviour and actions. She represents whatever we think and whatever we have done. Buddhism says, even when we die we will carry with us whatever we have done in our lives, and in particular, our true nature.  So from this we can see that our true Nature is the most important thing.