100

The Three Teachings Debate

Inauspicious

The poem

The gods make known to you what you should know,the foolish talk on and only grow confused;the old man has drawn his oracle and gone,better keep to the old and wait for the time.

Original: 佛神灵通与君知 / 痴人说事转昏迷 / 老人求得灵签去 / 不如守旧待时来

The story

Under Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou the three teachings, Confucian, Buddhist and Daoist, attacked one another, and the emperor summoned a great assembly to debate. After three rounds each side still insisted the Way was its own, and nothing was concluded. Later Buddhism became the common faith, and people spoke of the three teachings as one source.

What it means

The image is keeping to the constant and not moving, and waiting brings good fortune. Everything you needed to be told has been told, and it is the foolish who talk themselves into confusion. The old man takes his oracle away, and the counsel is to keep what he has and wait. This is the hundredth and last stick, and it closes things: one connection is ending and another life is beginning. Let what is finishing finish, and do not hold it back.

By area of life

Wealth

This investment will go seriously wrong, and after the loss a quite different chapter of your life begins from there.

Love

If you already have a partner, this sign means that the relationship is now coming quietly to its natural end.

Work

The business you are running is about to reach its conclusion; wind it up carefully and settle whatever still remains.

Health

This illness moves a person into another stage of life. Recite the names of the buddhas and the bodhisattvas often.

Travel

Going far away will make the life after very different from the life before. Consider it with very great care.

Advice

Let what is ending end, keep what you have, and wait for the next season.