Yuan Zishi of Shandong Province was born in the Zhizheng Era (1341 –  1368 AD) during the Yuan Dynasty (1271 –  1368 AD). He had a close friend named Miu Qianhu. Miu needed a large amount of money to travel south to Fujian Province to land a supervisory position in the local government. Yuan kindly lent him 300 pieces of silver. They had been good friends since childhood, so Yuan Zishi did not even ask Miu for a certificate of indebtedness.

A few years later, a war broke out in Shandong Province. Bandits robbed Yuan Zishi's home and left him with nothing. Yuan and his family fled to Fujian Province. He counted on his good friend, Miu Qianhu, to help him out. Little did he expect that Miu did not even want to see him. Finally he managed to have a meeting with Miu, but Miu snubbed him. Yuan had no choice but to ask for the 300 pieces of silver that Miu had borrowed. Yuan was devastated when Miu denied the loan completely. Moreover, Miu demanded that Yuan produce the IOU to prove his claim.

Yuan gave up on the thought of getting the 300 pieces of silver back. It was close to the Chinese New Year. He begged Miu to loan him some money so that he could get through the Chinese New Year. In order to dispose of Yuan, Miu promised to deliver some money to his home on New Year's Eve. The day before the Chinese New Year, Yuan waited at home from dawn to evening, but Miu did not show up. All the neighbors lit their lanterns and were excitedly preparing for the New Year. In contract, Yuan's family had nothing. His wife wept. They were in misery.

That night, with temper boiling, Yuan Zishi couldn't sleep. He took a knife and sharpened it. At dawn, he took the knife with him and walked towards Miu Qianhu's home. As he passed a Taoist temple he saw an elderly Taoist named Xuanyuan Weng sitting at the entrance. The old Taoist was a cultivator with an open Third Eye. He could see things in other dimensions. When Yuan Zishi passed by, the Taoist saw that Yuan was being followed by a large group of vicious demons. The demons, each brandishing a sword or knife, looked menacing and ferocious.

In a short while, Yuan Zishi passed by the Taoist temple again. But this time the old Taoist saw that Yuan was followed by a group of divine beings with gold crowns, jade accessories, and flags. They looked very congenial and kind.

The abrupt transformation dumbfounded the Taoist. He approached Yuan and inquired where Yuan had been. Yuan Zishi confessed to the Taoist. It turned out that Yuan had planned to kill the ungrateful and treacherous Miu Qinahu. However, he had a change of heart when he reached Miu's door. He thought, "Miu Qianhu, too, has an elderly mother and a wife. If I should kill him, his family would suffer the same miserable fate as my family. My family and I have already tasted the toils and turmoil of being turned out of our home. How could I subject his family to the same misery?" He gave up the thought of vengeance and headed home.

When he heard this story, the old Taoist congratulated Yuan Zishi and said, "You are bound to be blessed with good fortune. Divine beings know your change of heart. When you left for Miu Qianhu's home, I saw many ferocious demons following you. But when you returned, they were replaced by a group of divine beings in charge of good fortune. Now that I have heard your story, I am convinced that a man's bad thoughts will attract wicked demons and that a man's kind thoughts will attract divine beings of good fortune. The Heavenly Laws are always just. Even when one is alone in the dark, one must not have any bad thoughts, because divine beings are omnipresent, and wicked thoughts will reduce one's virtue! With a kind, forgiving thought, you will be protected and blessed by divine beings. You need not complain about your ill fortune any longer." The Taoist gave Yuan Zishi some money and rice to help him survive for the time being.

Soon, Yuan Zishi entered a divine being's cave by accident and met the divine being. He asked about the root cause of his misery in this lifetime. The divine being granted Yuan a vision of the karma he had committed in his previous life. Yuan realized that he had been an arrogant and narrow-minded Imperial Scholar that refused to recommend or promote younger scholars. It was karmic retribution that Yuan became an illiterate man with mundane intelligence this life. Because Yuan was a snob that refused to make friends and snubbed everyone, it was his karmic retribution that made him a wanderer this life with no one to help him. Heaven is just in punishing people for what they have done. Yet Yuan earned the good fortune of meeting a divine being and learning about karmic relationship because he had a good thought.

Yuan realized that every bad deed will be ultimately punished, no exceptions. The divine being also instructed Yuan Zishi to move to a place in the Funing area and told him that Miu Qianhu would suffer from his karmic retribution in three years.

Yuan moved to Funing as instructed. While he was clearing out a house that had been abandoned for a long time, he discovered 300 pieces of silver underneath the piles of bricks and debris. It was the exact amount of money that Miu Qianhu had owed him. Now that Yuan Zishi knew the law of cause and effect, he became a very charitable man. As a result, his financial situation gradually improved. As for Miu Qianhu and his family, they died in a war three years later and all of their money and belongings were plundered. Everything that the divine being had predicted came true.

The above story illustrates that one bad thought can cause a terrible mistake and bring karmic retribution, and one kind thought results in virtue and good fortune. Good and evil come from one's spontaneous thought. Divine beings are the witnesses of each and every thought of man. There is a Chinese saying: "Man's history is an accounting book." Who is the bookkeeper? It must be Heaven. Heaven sees and knows everything. Heavenly Laws govern everyone and everything. Everyone's fate is the result of cause and effect. Karmic retribution is always just.

善恶一念之间　报应毫厘不差  

文/李月亮

元自实，是元朝至正年间山东人。他有一好朋友叫缪千户，去福建做官没有路费，元自实慷慨的借给了他300两银子，因为两人自小相好，所以元自实连文书都没有要。

几年后，山东发生战乱，遭强盗洗劫的元自实一家人前往福建躲避战乱，希望可以投靠好朋友缪千户。没想到到了福建后，缪千户根本不愿见他，想方设法见到后，缪千户待他十分冷淡。生活窘迫的元自实无奈只好向缪千户提起当年曾借他银子的事，没想到缪千户矢口否认此事，而且向元自实索要借据。

眼看就快过年了，元自实已经不指望要回借出的钱了，只好恳求缪千户能够借给自己一点钱，把这个年过了。缪千户为打发他走，说除夕那天会给他送一点钱到家里去。除夕那天，元自实在家中从早晨一直等到晚上，缪千户根本就没来送钱。此时，家家户户张灯结彩的准备过新年了，而元自实家中此时却一无所有，妻子啼哭，真是苦楚不堪。

当天晚上，越想越生气的元自实一点都没有睡意，他翻出了一把刀，磨快了，天一亮就朝缪千户家中走去。在途中经过一座庵前，庵中有位叫轩辕翁的老道正坐在门前。因为这位老道是位修行之人，所以有些功能，能够看到另外空间的景象。老道发现，元自实身后好像跟着一大群奇形怪状的恶鬼，都手握刀剑棍棒，凶神恶煞的样子。

不一会儿，元自实又从原路返了回来，此时老道发现他身后却跟着一些头戴金冠、身佩玉器的人，挈幢盖举旌幡，和颜悦色。

这一前一后，瞬息之间由恶变善，老道纳闷不已，便去问元自实刚才到哪去了。元自实把事情的原委向老道讲了一遍。原来他是想去杀了忘恩负义的缪千户，走到缪家门口时，想到缪千户家中同样也有老母亲和妻子，如果杀了他，他的家人也要到处流落了。自己已经饱尝流离之苦，怎忍心让他的家人再受这苦呢？于是就返了回来。

老道听后，便向元自实道贺，并说：“你一定会有后福的，刚才发生的事，神明已经知道了。”又说：“清晨你出去时，我看见许多凶鬼跟在你身后；你不一会儿回来时，却换成了很多福神相随。听你这么一说，我才知道人一念之恶，凶鬼便至；一念之善，福神便临。如影随形，一毫不爽，暗室之内，造次之间，万不可萌一毫恶念，造罪损德的！你现在有了善念，鬼神一定会护佑你的，不必愁恨了。”又送给了元自实一点米和钱，帮他度过了这个难关。

不久，元自实又误入了一神仙洞府中，遇到了一位仙人。他向仙人询问自己这世受困苦的原因，在仙人的点化下，他看到了自己的前世原来是位翰林学士，因在职之时，自恃文学高强，忽略后进之人，不肯加以引荐提拔，所以这世罚他愚俗，不通文义。又因他妄自尊大，拒绝结交朋友，毫无情面，所以这世罚他漂泊，投靠无门。这是一还一报，天道毫厘不差。现在因他有了一念之善，所以能够得以遇到仙人，明白了这些因缘关系。

元自实恍然大悟，明白了人不管做了什么不好的事，都有报应在等着他呢，没有一个人是例外的。仙人还让他搬到福宁的某地居住，并告诉他缪千户3年后就会遇到灾祸，这也是他的报应。

元自实举家搬到了福宁，在打扫清理一所很久都没人居住的废弃的房子时，居然从地下瓦砾中挖出正好300两银子，而这正是以前借给缪千户的数目。元自实明白了因果关系后，努力行善积德，他的家境慢慢好起来。而缪千户一家人，3年后真的全部死于了战乱之中，所有家财全部被掠夺。仙人的话都一一应验了。

由这个故事我们可以看到，人的一念可以铸成大错，造业招天谴；也可以成就善举，积德享福报。善恶出自一念之间，天地可鉴。古人有句话：“试看古往今来，只是一本帐簿。”谁是“记帐”之人呢，当然是上天，上天明察秋毫，天理制约一切，因果循环，善恶报应，毫厘不差。