This is a common and good story to illustrate a simple man with a simple heart:

"Once upon a time in north of China, there was a simple old man who had a very beautiful horse which he loved with all his heart. It was a very powerful horse, very swift and useful horse. One day his horse ran away and all his neighbors came to console him. They said,

'How terrible it must be for you to lose that wonderful horse.'

The old man replied,

'Well, it might come back, I dont know! I am not sure it is good, I am not sure if it is bad. Things happen.'

Some time later the horse did indeed come back, but not by itself. It brought a few wild horses with it and his neighbors again came around to congratulate him for his good fortune. The neighbors said,

'Oh, Wow! Look at your good fortune. You are so lucky.'

The old man then said,

'Well, I dont know whether it is good or bad. I dont know whether I am lucky or not because all the horses might run away. You know these things happen.'

One day the old mans son went to ride on one of the wild horses and as it hadnt been tamed, it was quite wild. It threw him on the ground and he broke his two legs.

The neighbors again came around and commented,

'Oh, what a terrible fortune, your son was so badly injured! What will you do? This is so terrible.'

The old man said again,

'I am not sure whether it is good or bad. I am not sure whether I am lucky or not. It just happens you know this kind of thing. Things can change.'

Not so long after his sons accident, the army was sending out scouts to conscript young men as soldiers to defend the country from the enemies. The conscription officers then came into the village and conscripted all the young men except his son because of his injuries. The neighbors again came around and said,

'You are so lucky! Your son is here in bed with broken legs. He didnt have to be conscripted.'

The old man again said the same thing about not knowing whether it is good or bad."

We can see from this example about something that depends on the conditions at different time. Life is equally full of ups and downs. Happy at one moment and can be sad the very next minute. When we have an ordinary and simple heart, we can remain calm and peaceful more easily. It is like a beginners heart where there are plenty of rooms to learn. An experts heart is often a heart that is full that there is nothing much to learn. Be simple and try to learn to let go of our attachments so that if we lose them one day, we can still live without them. The most difficult to let go is our beloved families.

There is an Emperor in the Underworld by the name of, "Sen Luo Wang." He is in charge of the Fifth Tribunal and in that Tribunal, there is a place called "Wang Xiang Tai." On 30th May 1977, this is what he said,

"All souls who come to the Fifth Tribunal, must first go to Wang Xiang Tai to see what their families on Earth are doing because they still have a blind love for their families and naturally want to know how they are getting on. Therefore, all souls irrespective of whether sinful or not, want to see for themselves what is going on at home after they have died.

This is a sinful soul who has served his punishment in Hades and has come to Wang Xiang Tai to see how his family is faring. When he sees that his family now does not feel any sorrow for his death, he is very sad because when he was alive, he loved his family very much and sacrificed everything for them; he now feels that all his sacrifices and love are not repaid and so he starts to cry."

From the story of the simple old man in China and the sinful soul in the Underworld who loved his family with all his heart, there is a great difference. One who can let go because of his simple heart while alive and another till death he cannot let go of his family and yet can still feel sad after he died. Life is impermanent. The impermanent world is just an illusory flower and a false scene. Live a simple life, be a simple man and see through all these dreams and illusions.

Author: T.A Chew