The Consequences of Jealousy (Part 1)
 
Chinese culture has long valued the virtues of kindness, generosity, and tolerance, while acts of jealousy bring about shame. When a generous person sees the merits of others, he or she compliments these merits and accomplishments, thinks about how he or she falls short, and learns from others to do a better job. There is no time to be jealous of others. Only those narrow-minded and selfish people, out of shortsightedness and lack of virtue, would be jealous of others' accomplishments. They are bothered by others’ strengths. They worry about who will exceed them today, and who they will lose to tomorrow. Some less virtuous people would even go the extent of falsely accusing kindhearted people. They may have their way for some time. Yet, in the end, they will lose all their support and meet with retributions, as everything is governed by heavenly principles.
 
Shen Gongbao Ended Up Plugging the Hole in the North Sea with His Body
 
Shen Gongbao is a figure in the Chinese classic novel Investiture of the Gods. He and Jiang Ziya were fellow disciples of the Primeval God of Heaven, with Shen being more junior than Jiang. When Shen Gongbao learned that their master dispatched Jiang Ziya to help establish the Zhou Dynasty, which was to replace the Shang Dynasty, and assign titles to different deities, he was overtaken by jealousy.
 
He pressed Jiang for an answer, “Which king are you to protect?” Jiang replied, “I am to protect King Wu of the Zhou people, whose virtue is of the caliber of the ancient emperors Yao and Shun, whose kindness is in tune with the universal characteristics, and whose rise matches perfectly with the change in the heavenly orientation. King Zhou of the Shang Dynasty lacks any merits, and the Shang Dynasty is near its end. He will be the last ruler of the Shang Dynasty.” Shen retorted, “I am going to protect your opponent and thwart your plans.” Jiang sternly told Shen, “How dare you! No one can violate our master's orders. Nor can people reverse heavenly changes.” Shen was angry and retorted, “Jiang Ziya, you want to protect the Zhou people? What abilities do you have? You have studied for merely 40 years. How can you match me? I can chop off my head, throw it into the air, and it falls right back on my neck as before. How can you dare to oppose me?” Jiang Ziya ignored Shen Gongbao, and Shen left in anger.
 
Shen started to disrupt Jiang's efforts. He provoked different deities to kill Jiang. Once the Primeval God of Heaven caught Shen and was about to pin him under a huge mountain called the Kirin Cliff. Shen begged his master to forgive him by swearing, “If I continue to call out deities to thwart Jiang Ziya, I am willing to plug the hole of the North Sea with my own body.” Thus, Shen Gongbao was set free.
 
However, Shen did not repent. He continued to stir up disharmony. He asked the head of a sect to deploy 10,000 deities against Jiang Ziya’s camp, which caused great trouble for King Wu’s expedition against King Zhou. Shen Gongbao had committed too many sins. The Primeval God of Heaven knocked Shen down and killed the tiger he rode on. He told Shen, “You swore that if you continued to sabotage Jiang Ziya's mission, you would plug the North Sea. It is time you fulfill your promise.” That was where Shen ended up, at the bottom of the sea, where he could never see the sun rise again.




妒嫉的恶果 (上)
 
我们中华民族历来以善良、宽厚著称，以宽容为美德，以妒嫉为可耻。心胸宽阔之士，会由衷地钦佩和赞扬别人的优点、长处和成绩，反思自己的不足，向他人借鉴，专心于自己的事业，是没有功夫妒嫉别人的。妒嫉源于心胸狭窄、自私，只有那些德行欠佳的人，目光短浅，才会妒嫉别人，他们看到别人有好处，自己心里就很难过，今天害怕谁超过自己，明天又担心谁走在他前头，一生不得安宁。更有甚者，在妒嫉心驱使下诬陷好人，坏事做尽，他们纵然得势于一时，最终只能使自己成为孤家寡人，必定逃脱不了因果报应的惩罚，因为天理在制约著一切。
 
申公豹被塞北海眼
 
申公豹是《封神演义》故事中的人物，乃姜子牙师弟，与姜子牙一同拜师于元始天尊。当申公豹知道元始天尊派姜子牙下山扶周灭商及封神这件事后，非常妒嫉，他追问姜子牙说：“你想保哪个？”姜子牙说：“吾今保武王，灭纣王，正应上天垂像。武王德配尧、舜，仁合天心；纣王无道，况成汤气数黯然，此一传而尽。”申公豹说：“我如今却要保成汤，扶纣王。你要扶周，我和你掣肘。”姜子牙正色说道：“你说哪里话！师尊严命，怎敢有违？况天命人岂敢逆！”申公豹怒气地说：“姜子牙，料你保周，你有多大本领，道行不过四十年而已。你怎比得我将首级取下来，往空中一掷，复入颈项上，依旧还元返本，又复能言。你有何能，敢保周灭纣！”姜子牙不理睬他，申公豹恨恨而去。
 
此后，申公豹一直存心和姜子牙作对，挑动三山五岳仙人屡次欲害姜子牙，有一次被元始天尊拿下之后，准备令黄巾力士将申公豹压在麒麟崖下，申公豹向元始天尊发誓说：“弟子如再要使仙家阻挡姜子牙，弟子愿将身子塞了北海眼。”元始天尊才放了申公豹。
 
然而申公豹并不悔悟，继续进行挑拨离间，让通天教主摆下万仙阵对付姜子牙等众，给武王伐纣造成巨大困难。申公豹助纣为虐，恶贯满盈，元始天尊以三宝如意将其击倒，并把他的坐骑老虎打死，对申公豹说：“你曾发下誓盟，去塞北海眼，今日你也无辞。”命黄巾力士以蒲团卷起申公豹，拿去塞了北海眼，申公豹可谓自作自受。诗曰：“堪笑阐教申公豹，要保成汤灭武王。今日谁知身塞海，不知红日几沧桑”。