Reflections on Chinese Wisdom

"After the long slumber of ignorance, a single word can change a man forever."

Enlightenment, if it ever comes, comes unexpectedly. In Zen or Tao, everything--including enlightenment--is spontaneous. If you seek Buddha, you will not find him. But if you don't seek, you may find him. In Zen wisdom, if the pupil is ready, the teacher will turn up.

"There are three truths: my truth, your truth, and the truth."

In this world, most of us are too opinionated and self-centered. Our culture has instilled in us a mine-is-better attitude. We were brought up with the notion that "I am special." There is overemphasis on differences, rather than similarities. For these reasons, even when we show open-mindedness, tolerance, and diversity, we are in fact trying to reassert ourselves that "mine-is-better." If everyone focuses too much on the self, then there would be "my truth","your truth" and the truth.

"When the heart is at ease, the body is healthy."

More than 60 million Americans suffer from some form of insomnia. Lack of sleep depresses the immune system and increases everyday stress. Insomnia, according to Chinese medicine, is due to a restless heart caused by perturbed thoughts. A holistic approach to promoting proper sleep is to establish a regular bedtime each night to retune yourself to nature's circadian rhythms. Go to bed no later than 10 P.M. and get up around 6 to 7 A.M.

Benjamin Franklin also had to say: "Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy."

You can further enhance your deep sleep with daily meditation.

"Meditation remedies ignorance and fosters wisdom."

Buddha said: “Meditation brings wisdom; lack of mediation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what hold you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom.”

According to Buddha, we are often deluded by our consciousness, which is attached to the senses, causing us to take the world of appearances for the world of reality. In other words, it is ignorance that begets delusion, which is belief in something that contradicts reality. In Buddhism, delusion is a lack of awareness of the true nature of things, or of the true meaning of existence. Accordingly, our perceptions are often only limited and fleeting aspects of reality. However, through meditation, we may achieve the wisdom that separates delusion from reality. Meditation overcomes ignorance: it is the path to wisdom.

Delai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, concurs: “Where ignorance is our master, there is no possibility of real peace.” There is no real peace when one continues to crave something illusory and self-delusory.

"People differ in life, but not in death."

Death is an equalizer of man: one of the reasons why people are so afraid of death. We simply do not want to be "equal" to others. Human pride singles us from the rest of the crowd; even early in childhood, each of us acquires a "mine-is-better" attitude. As a result, in the deep recesses of our minds, we still think we are "different" because we possess certain unique qualities that others don't seem to have--such as social status, intellectual abilities, and religious beliefs, among others. No matter how hard we strive for equality, diversity, or integration, we accept only those who share our convictions or fit into our profiles. Even so, they often seem to be inferior to us, due to the preoccupation with self.

Only when we truly see the similarities, not the differences in human beings, do we really appreciate and understand the meaning of human compassion and loving kindness: a fellow human being is just like any other human being with the same desire to be happy and to avoid suffering. Essentially, it is the wisdom of focusing on others rather than self.