图说：陶侃搬甓 （网络图片）

Comfort and Complacency are Worse than Poisoned Wine
 
Everyone living in this world wants to live a happy and enjoyable life. These thoughts are certainly not wrong, but a happy life and a life of comfort are two completely different concepts. A happy life is gauged by one's spiritual feeling, while ease and comfort primarily refer to one's physical enjoyment. For human beings, the mind and body are interlinked with each other like the roots and branches on a tree. Maintaining one's mind with peace and joy is fundamental. Blindly and constantly pursuing physical pleasure however, is like putting the cart before the horse.
 
There was a renowned official named Tao Kan, courtesy name Shixing (259 – 334 AD), during the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317 – 420 AD). He gained merit during the wars and became the governor of Jingzhou. Some people were jealous of him and slandered him. As a result, he was demoted and transferred to a faraway place in the Guangzhou region of Guangdong. During that time, it was a wild place where criminals were exiled.
 
There were very few official duties in Guangzhou, but Tao never pursued leisure or comfort. He carried one hundred bricks from his study to the yard every morning, and then carried the same bricks back to his study in the evening. People were curious about his behavior and asked him why he did this.
 
Tao replied, "I aim to reclaim China during this lifetime. If I am too comfortable and become complacent, I am afraid that I will not be able to accomplish my mission."
 
Tao was later transferred back to Jingzhou. The people of Jingzhou celebrated his return. Although he became much busier than he was in Guangzhou, he still carried the bricks every day to maintain his willpower.
 
Tao Kan often told people, "Dayu, the legendary founder of the Xia Dynasty around 2100 BC, was a sage, but he knew how to treasure every minute. We are ordinary people, therefore we should treasure every second. How can we ease up and indulge in games or pleasure and forget our duties?" Nowadays, there is a place in the Kaifu District of Changsha City that is named after these famous words of Tao Kan.
 
Tao held a very responsible position and endured many hardships. He did not pursue leisure. He was so persistent that while serving as governor of Jingzhou, he was promoted to grand general of the west. He was in charge of military affairs for eight prefectures and was given the title Sir Changsha County, thereby becoming a famous person in history.
 
During the Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC – 476 BC), Guan Zhong, the prime minister of Qi State, advised the ruler Duke Huan of Qi, "One should not pursue good food, comfort, and wine." Our ancestors saw leisure as something worse than poisoned wine because leisure can erode a person's willpower. There is an ancient saying, "One often survives through hardship, yet perishes in comfort," which refers to the same wisdom.
 
It is stated in Hanshu (Historical records of the Han Dynasty): "The ancients considered leisure as poisoned wine, and trading virtue for wealth as misfortune. From the beginning of the Han Dynasty (206 BC) to Emperor Xiaoping (1 – 6 AD), among hundreds of dukes, kings, and emperors, most of them were corrupt and morally degraded. Why is history like that? It was their living environment and their position that caused them to sink into a state lacking self discipline." This is truly a lesson we later generations should learn from.
 
The ancients said, "Birds of a feather flock together." Good conduct and moral character are intertwined. Virtue amidst hard work makes people realize that life is hard, thus they learn to be thrifty, cherishing things and developing kindness. Were life too easy and comfortable, one would become dissipated without restraint, and unkind, thus being selfish, where evil thoughts can easily be generated. So seeking a life of ease and comfort without virtue is very dangerous for a person.
 
Looking at this from another perspective, persons living in this world must have done many bad things during many lifetimes [reincarnations] and created much karma. Disasters in life and things that adversely affect one's needs all stem from karmic retribution. Just as we must pay what we owe others, if one accumulates too much karma but does not pay it off, this person's next life will be miserable.
 
安逸胜毒酒
 
人生在世，每个人都希望自己有幸福的生活，能够享福。这种想法当然不是错。其实幸福的生活和安逸还是两个完全不同的概念。幸福的生活是以人的心灵的感受为标准的，而安逸享乐多是身体的享受了。对于人来说，心和身是本和末的关系。心灵的平和快乐是本，如果一味的追逐身体的享乐，就是本末倒置了。
 
东晋的时候，有一名臣陶侃，字士行，溪族，原籍东晋鄱阳郡，就是今天江西波阳县东北。陶侃立有战功，曾任荆州刺史。有人因妒嫉而说坏话陷害他，陶侃被降职调往偏僻的广州地区。在古时候，广东广州是蛮荒之地，都是有罪的人被流放的地方。
 
陶侃在广州无事可做，非常清闲，但他并没有自暴自弃，更没有放纵自己贪图安逸享受。而是每天早晨把一百块砖（“甓”）从书房里搬到房外；到了晚上，再把砖搬回屋内。人们很奇怪，便问他原因。
 
陶侃回答说：“我致力于收复中原，如果过于安逸闲散致使意志消沉，恐怕将来不能成就大事。”
 
陶侃后来回到荆州，荆州百姓高兴地互相庆贺。在荆州他尽管公务繁忙，可仍然坚持搬砖，以此磨练自己意志，后人称其为“运甓翁”。
 
陶侃经常对人说：“大禹是圣人，他尚且珍惜每寸光阴，至于我们这些普通人，就应该更加要珍惜每一分光阴，怎能去放纵游乐，醉生梦死呢？”
 
现在长沙开福区有个“惜阴里”，据说就是由陶侃这句珍惜光阴的名言而得名。
 
忍辱负重、不图安逸、意志坚韧的陶侃后来被提升为征西大将军兼荆州刺史，都督八州军事，封爵长沙郡公，声名显赫。
 
春秋时期，齐国名相管仲曾经进谏齐桓公说：“宴安鸩毒，不可怀也。”古人视贪图安逸比毒酒更害人，因为它会吞噬人们的意志，让人举步不前，虚度光阴。古训“生于忧患，死于安乐”说的也是这个道理吧！
 
《汉书》中也说：“古人把贪图安逸视为毒酒，把丧失道德而富贵称之为不幸。汉朝兴起，直到孝平帝，诸侯王数以百计，大多骄横荒淫丧失道德。为什么这样呢？沉溺在放纵恣肆的环境中，他们所处的地位导致他们如此。”这真是后人应该引以为鉴的。
 
古人说：物以类聚，人以群分；我们看到好的品行道德也是相通的。勤劳的品德让人知道生活的不易，就会知道节俭和珍惜，知道节约和珍惜就会产生善心；而如果生活过份安逸了，就会产生放荡之心，有了放荡之心就会丢掉善心；丢掉善心，就会产生邪恶的念头。所以贪图安逸享乐而没有德行对于一个人是非常危险的。
 
其实从另一个角度看，人生在世，生生世世都会做很多坏事从而造下很多的业力。生活中的灾难，不顺心的事情，其实都是业力轮报的结果。就好像欠债要还的道理一样。业力积累的太多又不还，这个人的下一生会更惨啊。