“To alter destiny, you must not ask fortune-tellers to change it for you. True transformation of fate depends entirely on yourself. Accumulate virtuous deeds and seek blessings through your own conduct; then there is no need to consult fortune-tellers. Blessed people naturally receive aid from noble benefactors, attaining fulfillment in health, family, career, marital bonds and so forth. Others can at most serve as reminders from the sidelines. You must put good deeds into practice yourself, keeping them constantly in mind and continuing day and night without interruption. Then your predetermined destiny can be changed, and your entry in the Register of Life and Death can be rewritten from then on!
“Ayù, you ought to understand this. Even if people devote their whole lives to preserving their health through regular routines, moderate diets, sufficient sleep, and physical activity, such efforts cannot extend their allotted lifespans. These self-disciplined activities alone lack the power to alter their fixed destiny. Naturally, thanks to their diligent self-care, they will suffer less physical agony when illness befalls them.
“In truth, the vast majority of sentient beings cannot greatly transform their destiny. They live ordinary lives until death, then transmigrate to corresponding paths or realms according to the karmas they have created. Nevertheless, whenever any sentient being practises goodness — even a seemingly trivial act of virtue — if their original intention is genuinely to benefit others, such virtuous acts may yield immense wholesome rewards in time, thereby turning the course of their destiny. Two kinds of people can divert the trajectory of predetermined fate: those who commit grave evil and those who practice great good. Those of grave evil descend straight to the hells to receive karmic retribution after death. By contrast, those of great good possess filial piety that moves heaven, quietly accumulate hidden virtues, and relieve suffering for others. Their blessing rewards expand boundlessly. They may break free from their original predetermined fate and continuously ascend, to be reborn in the heaven realms and enjoy blessings and bliss after passing away.
“As for your question on seeking longer life, it can be achieved, yet there is a limit to how much one’s lifespan may be extended. Hence one must seek longevity in accordance with principle and the Dharma. Seeking longevity in such a proper way means this: if your body is frail and you wish to nourish your physical form with nourishing food, you must never take the lives of animals to sustain your body. Heaven cherishes all living beings. To preserve one’s own life by slaying other sentient beings is strictly prohibited by the laws of the netherworld. Such ways of nourishing the body cannot prolong life; on the contrary, you will incur karmic debts for the lives you have taken, which will inevitably bring bitter retribution in the future. All who seek longer life must bear this firmly in mind: first and foremost, adopt a vegetarian diet. If you take the lives of other beings, how can you hope for longevity? When lives are unjustly taken, the victims will harbor resentment and wait for an opportunity to retaliate. Therefore, vegetarianism is the foundation for extending lifespan. Furthermore, those who seek longevity should nurture a great compassionate mind to liberate all living beings from suffering and grant them joy, bring forth the great Bodhi mind to save countless beings, and uphold vegetarian practice throughout their lives and engage in releasing captive creatures. If one truly fulfills these practices, one’s allotted lifespan recorded on the Register of Life and Death will certainly be increased. The amount of extended years is determined by the scope of one’s aspiration and the volume of meritorious virtues accumulated.
“According to the records within the registers of life and death in my custody, there are some people who receive an extension of lifespan without actively praying for it. Some are ordinary people without the grand mind to rescue all sentient beings. They simply possess a sincere heart to aid others. When witnessing injustice or crises, compassion arises within them, and they save another being’s life. Such people are reported regularly by the attendant deities and successfully granted longer lives, without themselves knowing their lifespan has been lengthened. Extensions of lifespan in such cases generally range from six to twelve years. For beings who have amassed exceptionally profound hidden meritorious virtues, the blessing rewards may exceed what they can enjoy within a single lifetime, and these meritorious virtues will then be carried over across successive incarnations to grant them long lives in future lifetimes. Human lifespans are predetermined, thus rewards and punishments under the netherworld laws never violate the natural order.”
Then I ventured another question to the Magistrate: “In the sutras, the Buddha instructs cultivators to eat lightly, sleep little, and even forego sleep for spiritual cultivation. Does this harm one’s health or shorten lifespan?”
The Magistrate replied: “The Buddha is a cultivator possessing supreme wisdom in the universe. The path of cultivation we follow is the very path the Buddha traversed step by step. Having walked this path, the Buddha naturally knows how to guide living beings along it. The cultivation methods taught by the Buddha will not harm one’s health or shorten one’s lifespan. Only offenses committed through body, mouth and mind, or later neglect of one’s body, such as reckless overeating, reversed day-night routines, uncontrolled emotions and so forth, can diminish one’s lifespan.
“Eating lightly and sleeping modestly are excellent ways to cultivate the body. Mortals in the human realm are capable of surviving without food or sleep. If a person can align every breath with nature and attain unity between humanity and heaven, they will naturally enjoy robust health and longevity. They can then live independent of food and slumber, returning to the luminous state prior to reincarnation. Ordinary people, however, cannot achieve this state. This is why the Buddha guides practitioners to advance gradually: begin by eating less, for eating less naturally leads to sleeping less. In time, one can cultivate diligently without sleep.
“As I stated before, how much a person consumes in this lifetime is predetermined prior to rebirth. Eating lightly now allows one to conserve and accumulate the blessing rewards allotted for this life. If one perseveres in diligent practice, eating lightly, sleeping little, or even foregoing sleep entirely, greater blessing rewards and virtuous fruits will be accumulated over time. How then could restrained eating and sleepless cultivation possibly shorten one’s lifespan? Now, Ayù, do you understand?” I nodded to show comprehension.
The Magistrate said: “That shall be all for today. You are welcome to return with further questions!”