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Yanshan Dou (窦燕山) was a famous hero of the Five Dynasties period in China's history (907-979). When he was young, his family was wealthy, but he did not use his wealth to help others or to do good deeds. By the time he was 30, he still did not have a son. (For context, in ancient China, people cared heavily about having a son to pass on the family lineage. Although we might not think it's a big deal nowadays, it was a very very big deal back then.) One night, Yanshan had a dream. In this dream, his deceased grandfather and father told him, "You need to change yourself immediately and start doing good deeds! The fate that you came into this world with is not very good. Not only are you not destined to have a son, your lifespan is also short. But if you diligently cultivate goodness now, you might be able to turn your fate around." Image Source: GPT When Yanshan woke up, he was soaked in cold sweat. He realized the truth of his father and grandfather's words, and he was deeply grateful for their loving admonishment. From then on, he diligently improved himself and cultivated goodness. His family had a servant who stole a large amount of money from them. (For context, it was common for wealthy people to employ servants back then). This servant then ran away and left his 12-year old daughter there. He also left a note saying "I sell my daughter to you to return my debt." When Yanshan saw this situation, he felt sorrow for this young girl. He immediately burned the slip of paper and took the girl in as his own daughter. He told his wife, "Let's raise this girl properly. Once she grows up, we can find a good family for her to marry into." (For context, it was normal for parents to arrange marriage for children back then). After this girl grew up, Yanshan found a virtuous husband for her and paid for her marriage expenses. When the servant father found out about this, he felt deeply touched and ashamed. He came back to Yanshan's house and cried while apologizing for his past wrongdoing. Yanshan didn't scold him, but instead urged him to turn over a new leaf. The servant's entire family was endlessly grateful towards Yanshan, so they put his picture on a table, and every morning, they made food offerings to the picture as a way to express their gratitude. Image Source: GPT One time, Yanshan visited a place and found a bag of money. Inside was 30 taels of gold and 200 tales of silver (a lot of money!). He thought, "This is a very large amount of money. Someone must have left it here by accident." He then waited there and guarded the money, waiting for the owner to return. The next day early morning, he heard a crying man approaching. Yanshan asked the man why he was crying. The man said, "My father committed a crime and was banished to a remote region to serve in the army. In order to save my father from this punishment, I begged all my relatives to lend me money. I worked so hard to accumulate that money, and I kept that bag of money by my side carefully. But yesterday, I got drunk with a friend and lost the bag of money. If I can't save my father, I'll never see him again!" After hearing this, Yanshan was sure this person was the owner, so he returned the money to him. Moreover, he gifted him some more money. The person was extremely relieved and grateful. Yanshan continued to practice good deeds. For example, when relatives lacked money to pay for marriages or funeral affairs, he would pay. He also lent money and helped innumerous poor people, helping them establish a better life for themselves. In order to save money to help the poor, he lived a very frugal life. He only spent money on necessary expenses, and he used the rest to help others. He established four schools and hired virtuous teachers to teach the youth. If a student was eager to learn but did not have the money to pay tuition, he would sponsor them. Many talented people graduated from his schools. One day, Yanshan dreamed of his father and grandfather again. They told him, "You have done many great deeds over the years. Because of your accumulated merit, your lifespan has been extended by 36 years, and you will have five prominent sons who will bring glory to the family name. Once you leave this world, you will be born in heaven. Karma is definitely real. Doing good deeds will bring fortune, and bad deeds will bring misfortune. Perhaps the result will be in this lifetime, perhaps next lifetime, or perhaps it will influence the future generation. Nothing slips karma, that is for sure." Afterwards, Yanshan was even more diligent in cultivating virtues. He later indeed had five sons who all became high ranking government officials. The people called them "the five Dou dragons". Yanshan lived until 82 years old. He knew ahead of time the time of his death. He bathed, changed into clean clothes, and told his family he is going to leave. Then he smiled and passed away. (Story Source) Commentary Yanshan's story has two major lessons for me. First is the origin of worship ceremonies, and second is how to change one's fate. 1: The origin of the bows, prostrations, and worship ceremonies After I started learning ancient Chinese philosophy and culture in my mid-twenties, I had the chance to attend many workshops and events. At these events, there was something that I was uncomfortable with: those ceremonies where we have to bow down or prostrate to the Buddha or Confucius or ancestors or teachers. Before my mid-twenties, I had never bowed to anyone. I grew up as an atheist who believed that religions are superstitious. When I heard the word "religion", I would imagine a cult of people bowing down and worshiping a statue of a deity. Later, my mother got into Buddhism, and she would prostrate in front of a Buddha image, and I thought she had become superstitious. After I started learning Confucianism, I learned that in ancient China, people would bow down to their teachers. There's even a ceremony for when a new student begins to learn from a teacher at a private academy. In this ceremony, the child's father leads the child to do nine bows to the teacher as a way to show their respect to the teacher. If the child sees how much the parent respects the teacher, then the child would also respect the teacher and be able to learn well from the teacher. Image Source That makes sense to me, but it still feels really weird for me to bow to anyone because I never did it before, and bowing still makes me think of either superstitious religious cults or medieval kings and their servants. I also saw some Chinese people bowing down to monks, and I thought to myself, "Do you guys view monks as gods or kings or something?" One time, I asked someone who grew up in traditional Chinese culture about this, and he said, "I grew up seeing my parents bow to my grandparents and teachers, so I feel it's very normal and natural to bow down to my parents and teachers. It's simply a way to show our deep respect and gratitude. As for Buddhism, you really respect the Buddha if you want to learn Buddhism. Monks represent the Buddha, so of course we would bow to them." Again, it makes sense intellectually to me, but I still feel it is strange for me to do it to anyone. After I heard Yanshan's story, I suddenly had an epiphany. No one told Yanshan's servant to set up an altar table, put up a picture of Yanshan, and offer food to it every day. He had this idea on his own! Why? Because he was so deeply grateful, and he wanted to do something to express that emotion. It's kind of like when someone is very happy, they laugh or scream. Or if someone is really sad, they cry. Here, he's so grateful that he just has to do something to let that emotion out, and what naturally came to his mind was to set up an altar table and make offerings to a picture of Yanshan. After all, the servant cheated Yanshan a lot of money, but Yanshan not only did not chase him down or torture his daughter, he even forgave him and gave his daughter a good life. That's deep and big kindness! In that feeling of gratitude is also the feeling of admiration and respect. He's so touched and impressed by Yanshan's kindness and virtues that setting up an altar table for Yanshan just feels natural and right. I wouldn't be surprised if the servant and his family also bowed down in front of the altar table every day. When I understood this, I suddenly understood why people have worship ceremonies for the Buddha or God or Confucius or anyone else. It must be because they are deeply grateful for those people for the things they've done in their life and for their teachings that saved their lives or really changed their lives for the better. At least, that should be the origin of these worship ceremonies and rituals. Image Source: Unsplash Perhaps nowadays, some people bow and do rituals without understanding why, or out of the superstitious belief that somehow the deity will bless them, but the origin of such rituals should have been out of gratitude and respect. It would be like if the servant had a great-great-great-great-grandson, and he sees the family bowing down to the picture of Yanshan every day, but no one actually told him what Yanshan did for the family in the past. The boy then assumes that maybe Yanshan is a supernatural deity who can bless them if they worship him. For me personally, I reflected on how my life has changed and improved after learning the teachings of the Buddha and Confucius and ancient stoic philosophers. It's thanks to their teachings that I now feel much more peace and joy in life. It's almost like I was reborn thanks to their teachings. With this kind of gratitude in my heart, I feel that bowing to them is very suitable. I then thought about the gratitude of my parents, especially my mother who went through a lot of hardship to give birth to me and raise me. Although it still feels a little weird to bow to her because I've just never done it, and that's not how I was taught to express gratitude in my life, but I feel it's very reasonable. From another perspective, we shouldn't be attached to appearances or methods. The most important thing is the intention behind our actions. In some cultures, giving a bow is very normal. When they give that bow, perhaps their feeling of gratitude and respect is equivalent to my feeling of gratitude and respect when I give my mother Tuina massage for an hour. It's the intention that matters, not necessarily the method of expression. It's most important to express in a method that the other person likes. Now, if I attend a ceremony where we bow down to the Buddha or Confucius or ancestors or teachers, I know the intention behind the rituals, and I feel more natural doing the bows and prostrations. 2: Changing Fate I've previously written a series of articles on the law of karma and changing fate. The first article mentioned that karma has flower retributions and fruit retributions. If we do good deeds, we may or may not receive the good results in this life depending on whether the conditions are ripe. If we receive good results in this life, that's just the flower retribution. The fruit retribution will be even bigger in a future life. The same is true for sins. We are born with karma that we carry from our past lives. We already have a fate at the moment of birth, but that fate is subject to change with our every thought, speech, and action. The third article in the karma series explained that karma has size and heaviness. A person originally with a lot of fortune can lose it fast if he or she commits a lot of sins. Meanwhile, a person originally fated for a lot of suffering can turn that fate around if he or she accumulates merits and virtues. The book Liao Fan's Four Lessons explains fate in detail, and Yanshan's story is a great example. Yanshan was originally destined for a short life and no heir, which is a result of sins committed in past lives. We can conjecture that he committed the sins of killing and creating fear in others, leading to the karmic consequence of a short life. Having heirs to carry on the family name also requires virtues and fortune, and he didn't cultivate enough to have descendants in this life. However, after hearing admonishment from his grandfather and father, he diligently cultivated virtues and accumulated merits. As a result, his life was extended by 36 years, and he had five prominent sons! This is just his flower-retribution. His fruit retribution was heavenly rebirth, where everything is thousands of times better than in the human realm. To change his fate so drastically and quickly, Yanshan must have accumulated extremely large goodness in this life. We can go through his story part by part and analyze the karma. At the beginning of the story, it said that although he was wealthy, he didn't use his wealth to help others or do good deeds. To be selfish and not help others in need when you have the ability is a sin. This might have been a habit carried over from his past lives since the text said that he was originally destined for a short life. Later, he had a dream where his deceased grandfather and father urged him to turn over a new leaf. More importantly, he actually listened to their advice. This illustrates the saying, "Fortune belongs to those who listen to criticism." The fact that he could believe what his grandfather and father said about past karma and changing fate is also related to his past lives. He must have learned such things before, so he was easily able to believe in it this life. Later, his servant stole a large amount of money from him. According to the law of karma, this is not random. Why would the servant steal money from him of all people? Why that amount? It's because Yanshan also stole from the servant in a past life, and now the conditions are ripe for the servant to collect that debt. Image Source What happens to us is a result of our past karma, but how we respond now creates our future karma and is a reflection of our virtues. Normally, if a servant stole a lot of money, the master would be furious and send people to chase the servant down. Whether he's successful or not at getting the money back would depend on if he truly owes that money to the servant. But in Yanshan's case, he not only forgave the servant, which is already hard enough, he even took care of the servant's daughter as his own daughter. This is very big goodness for many reasons. First, it is very difficult for most people in such a situation to forgive the servant and then to take care of the daughter. Others might have sent people to kill the servant or kill the daughter. He didn't, so he saved two lives, which is a big deal. Second, he was very sincere about it. He comes from a wealthy family, yet he raised a servant-class girl for many years as his own daughter and didn't change his mind. This is very selfless compassion. He didn't brag about it or think himself to be amazing, so he was humble too. He did it out of an intention of pure goodness. By saving someone else's child, he plants the seed to have his own children. And since he himself cultivated such great virtues, his children would surely be virtuous too. Another time, he found a lot of money and guarded it until he found the correct owner. The owner was going to use that money to save his father. If he lost that money, the lives of the father and the owner would be ruined. Therefore, Yanshan saved another two lives, which is again planting the seeds for longevity. When relatives lacked money for funerals or marriages, he would pay. Giving parents a proper funeral is filial piety. By helping others be good children, he plants the seed for himself to have good children. Helping others get married and have descendants is planting the seed for himself to have children. He helped many poor people establish a better life for themselves. Originally, these people were going to live a life of suffering and fear, but thanks to Yanshan, they could live a good life. This is giving them comfort, health, and wealth, which will reap the karmic results of comfort, health and wealth for himself. He built schools and hired virtuous teachers. This is contributing good people to society, which is one of the greatest contributions we can give. Good education is foundational for a good life. His act of supporting good education is giving wealth, health, and wisdom, and he will reap these karmic results. Most importantly, he did all of these things out of sincerity. He didn't seek a reward. He did these because it felt like the right thing to do. He persisted for years. He persisted despite difficulties. He was willing to live a very frugal life in order to help others more. It's because of his sincere intentions, as well as the great scale of impact that he had, that he accumulated so much goodness so fast. Later, his grandfather and father told him that his life would be extended by 36 years and that he would have five prominent sons. He lived until 82, which means that he was originally destined to live until 46. Having good children is a great fortune because they greatly impact our happiness and quality of life. Good children make our later years peaceful, while bad children can ruin our lives. Yanshan also died a very peaceful death and even knew the time of his death. This is one of the greatest fortunes. Relating back to ourselves, we might think, "Well, Yanshan has a lot of money, so it's easy for him to accumulate goodness. I'm not rich or powerful, so it's harder for me." But we have to remember that the size of our good karma depends on the sincerity of our intentions. If person A has $1000 dollars that he could donate, but he is only willing to donate $100, that's 10% sincerity. If person B has $100 dollars but is willing to donate $50, that's 50% sincerity. As long as we try our best to help others in whatever way appropriate, then our merit is full. Image Source We might think, "Well Yanshan was lucky to have encountered a lot of situations where he could help others. I don't have that many opportunities." We should remember that cultivating goodness and virtues should be done in our already existent daily life. Do we make the people already us happier and better, starting with our parents and family? Or do we add trouble to them? Do we diligently fulfill our responsibilities? These are the foundation for merit. If we neglect our basic responsibilities and instead go out looking for opportunities to do good deeds, then that's not real goodness, that's just being greedy for merit and praise, which is a sin. As our virtues improve, we will naturally attract bigger opportunities of more impact. We don't need to actively seek them or be impatient for them to come. What we should be afraid of is that big opportunities come, but we lack the virtues to handle them properly, resulting in sins instead of goodness. Thus, if we want to better our fate like Yanshan, the most important thing is to cultivate our virtues in everyday life. Conclusion Yanshan's story helped me realize the origin of worship rituals, which is a natural expression of gratitude and reverence. His story also illustrated many principles of karma, such as big karma versus small karma and flower retributions versus fruit retributions. We are fortunate to hear his story, and we need to cherish this fortune by emulating him and by diligently cultivating ourselves just like he did. Weekly Wisdom #391

Happiness researcher Gretchen Rubin said, “Ancient philosophers and contemporary scientists agree that a key—maybe the key—to a happy life is strong relationships.” Image Source: Unsplash Ancient philosophers emphasized cultivating one's moral character and virtues. Why? It isn't just to make ourselves more noble. It's also to help us have better relationships. When all our relationships are harmonious, it's like living in heaven. When there's a lot of agony and conflict in relationships, it's like living in hell. I've already written a lot in the past about improving relationships through cultivating our own virtues, such as compassion, wisdom, humility, etiquette, trustworthiness, carefulness, etc. When we improve our own virtues, we improve our response to other people, which naturally improves our relationships. But this article will look at relationships from a different perspective, the perspective of karma. When we understand karma, we will no longer think "How dare they treat me like this!" or "They shouldn't be that way!" Instead, we will think "Every result has its cause. How others treat me now is a result of my past karma. How I respond now determines my future karma and is a reflection of my cultivation." One important principle of karma is that it spans across three lifetimes: past, present, and future. This article will talk about both present life karma and past life karma. If you do not believe in past or future lives, I suggest reading The Scientific Proof of Causal Reincarnation by Dr. Zhong Maosen. I have previously written a summary article as well. Present Life Karma Perspective From just the perspective of present life karma, if we have conflict with someone, chances are, it's not 100% their fault. The way they treat us now is a result of our past actions. Maybe we did certain things without considering their feelings, so they got upset at us. That's our karma. Maybe we got upset at them unfairly in the past, so now they get angry at us unfairly. That's still our karma. Maybe when they criticized us, we criticized them back even more than they criticized us, so they felt the urge to continue criticizing us. Every result definitely has its cause. Whenever we are upset at the way someone treats us, we should ask ourselves, "Have we ever treated that person or any other person in the same way?" If the answer is yes, then we have to recognize that receiving this kind of treatment back is karma. If we have misunderstood others or criticized others wrongly in the past, then it's inevitable that others will do the same to us. This isn't unfair. It's a natural law of the world, just like the law of gravity. No one complains about gravity not letting them float in the air. We all accept the law of gravity and work with it. We should have the same attitude towards the law of karma. Image Source Another important rule of karma is that from cause to result requires time. If you had past conflict with someone, and now you start treating them virtuously with kindness, respect, and humility, they may not immediately return the same treatment back to you. It takes time to build trust and change prejudice. To give an analogy, relationships are like bank balances. Every good interaction is like a deposit. Every bad interaction is like a withdrawal. If we had too many bad interactions in the past, the relationship bank balance is in a deficit. If we start depositing today, we're decreasing the deficit, but it won't become a surplus in one day. If we try to treat them well, but they still treat us rudely or unkindly, that's because our balance is still a deficit. If we respond negatively, then we'll deepen the deficit. If we respond positively, then we'll decrease the deficit much faster. Once the balance becomes a surplus, the relationship will turn over a new leaf. Multiple Life Karma Perspective Have you ever met someone and you just get along really well? You just feel like long-time old friends. Or have you ever met someone and just dislike them right away? You don't really know why. It's not like they did anything to tick you off. But for some reason, you just don't like them very much…This is all related to past life karma. In some relationships, one person keeps taking while the other person keeps giving. The taker doesn't seem to appreciate the giver and takes them for granted. Some might say the taker is abusing the giver. The giver doesn't seem to want to leave the relationship. Or perhaps the giver wants to leave the relationship, but for whatever reason cannot. This is also related to past life karma. There is a Buddhist saying that goes, "Spouses are joined by karmic affinity. Some affinities are good, others are bad. Without affinity, they would not join. Children come through karmic debts. Some come to repay, others come to collect. Without debt, they would not come." Although this quote talks about spouses and children, the principle applies to all relationships. It's just that people usually have the strongest karmic ties to spouses and children, so this principle is even more evident in these relationships. Broadly speaking, there are four types of karmic relationships: Repaying kindness Getting revenge Repaying debt Collecting debt Icon Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4 Repaying kindness and getting revenge are fairly self-explanatory. If we treated someone well in the past, they will treat us well in the future. If we mistreated others in the past, they will mistreat us in the future. Debt has many kinds. There are debts of money, debts of things, debts of emotion (e.g., tears), debts of lives. If we stole money or things from others in past lives, and the owner was unable to collect the debt in the past, eventually, in a future life, that owner will come to collect the debt. If we caused others a lot of grief in past lives, they will collect a debt of tears in the future. If we killed others in the past, they will collect that debt of life in the future. This is all karma. Also, these four relationships are not mutually exclusive. Usually, our relationship with people includes a mixture of all four. But what percentage each makes up differs by relationship. Oftentimes, when people receive mistreatment, they get angry and want revenge. When people get revenge, they tend to go overboard, which then creates a cycle of endless retaliation. For example, if Person A stole $100 from Person B, Person B gets upset. Later, Person B steals not $100 but $110 from Person B out of anger and revenge. Person A then feels this is unjustified and later steals $120 from Person B. This creates an unending cycle of revenge. To give another example, Person A unfairly criticized Person B one sentence. Person B gets upset and unfairly criticizes Person A two sentences. Eventually this leads to fist fights and physical harm. If this cycle continues, it even leads to taking each others' lives. But if even one person decided to let go of revenge and forgive the other person, then that cycle could end there and then. Thus, the Buddha taught us multi-life karma so that we would accept the consequences of negative karma peacefully. After all, it is our own fault and responsibility, so we should bear the consequences. In this way, we won't create more negative karma. Moreover, by responding with virtues, we will end the cycle of revenge and create a better future. Venerable Master Jing Kong said, "In unfavorable circumstances, accord with the negative conditions without anger or resentment, and your karmic obstacles will completely disappear. In favorable circumstances, accord with the positive conditions without greed or delusion, and your fortune and wisdom will fully appear." (Original Text: 處逆境，隨惡緣，無瞋恚，業障盡消。處順境，隨善緣，無貪痴，福慧全現) Below are some stories to illustrate karma in relationships. Story 1: The Angry Donkey Grandson Below is a story from the book Records of Real Contemporary Karma Cases (現代因果實錄). The original text is in Chinese, so I have translated it to English. Ms. Jiang was in her seventies and often participated in Buddhist retreats, but she had a lingering worry that kept her from focusing on her Buddha chanting meditation. The source of her distress was her 17-year-old grandson, who frequently yelled at his nearly 80-year-old grandfather and constantly ordered the elderly couple around. He insisted on changing his clothes daily, was extremely picky about food, and even demanded that his grandmother go to his classmate’s house to fetch things for him. His parents were financially well-off, owning a modern three-bedroom apartment and a Toyota car, and they very much wished for their son to live with them. However, since childhood, the boy had preferred staying with his grandparents, yet he constantly made them upset. No matter how well the grandparents treated him, he would flip moods instantly. When his temper flared, he would kick furniture and slam doors, only to calm down a short while later as if nothing had happened. Ms. Jiang lamented that as long as the grandson was around, she and her husband could not find peace in their Buddha chanting. Hearing this, I deeply sympathized with their situation. So, I sought advice from an elderly monk who had the ability to see into people's past lives. The master said, “In their past life, this old couple were husband and wife living in a rural village. They owned a donkey that helped them plow the fields, grind grain, and even carried loads when they went to the market. Despite enduring a life of hard labor on coarse fodder, the donkey was often beaten and scolded. When it grew old and could no longer work, they sold it to a butcher to be slaughtered. Now, their grandson is that very donkey, reincarnated to collect his debt. They must quickly repent before the Buddha for the sins of their past mistreatment and recite the Kṣitigarbha Sutra every day, dedicating the merits to the donkey’s past soul. If they do not, this grandson will continue to torment them, and they may very well be angered to death.” I conveyed the master's words to Ms. Jiang exactly as he had spoken. She wholeheartedly believed them, saying, “My grandson really does behave like a stubborn donkey, unpredictable and bad-tempered. His grandfather has already developed high blood pressure from his tantrums and even suffered a heart attack a few days ago. If this goes on, it’s only a matter of time before we lose our lives. Now that we understand the root cause of our suffering, we will follow the master’s guidance.” Image Source: GPT A month and a half later, Ms. Jiang called me with joyful news: “I have great news! My husband and I immediately repented for our past wrongdoings and have persistently recited the Kṣitigarbha Sutra every day. We've completed 39 recitations so far, and during this time, our grandson has only lost his temper once; he just shouted twice and calmed down quickly. Yesterday, his teacher even praised him for dressing modestly and helping others! My husband and I were so moved that we cried tears of joy. The power of the Kṣitigarbha Sutra is truly incredible—Buddhism is wondrous! Now, our faith in cultivation is stronger than ever.” Less than six months later, Ms. Jiang’s grandson had proudly joined the Communist Youth League. Every day, Ms. Jiang and her husband happily recited sutras and worshiped the Buddha, developing a newfound love for studying Buddhist scriptures. Not only had their old ailments disappeared, but even Ms. Jiang’s once-fully white hair had begun growing strands of black again. Their happy twilight years had only just begun. Commentary 1: In this story, the grandson came into this family mainly to get revenge on the grandparents and collect a debt of grievances. The grandson probably didn't know his past life, but he felt the way he did towards the grandparents due to the force of karma. Similarly, when we just seem to like someone or dislike someone for no clear reason, that's also the force of karma. When we understand karma, we know that nothing is random. Why did the grandson insist on living with the grandparents? Why did the grandson only torment the grandparents but not the parents or other adults? Why does this grandson have the personality of a stubborn mule? This is all karma. When the grandparents got upset, they probably scolded the grandson and argued with him a lot. That's making the relationship deficit even worse. Once they understood that the reason their grandson abuses them is because they abused the grandson in the past, they no longer felt like it was unfair. They recognized that they were responsible for this situation, and they sincerely repented. In order to repent for a wrongdoing, it's not enough to just say sorry. We have to sincerely feel sorry, stop the wrongdoing, and make amends. This elderly couple believed the master's words, sincerely felt sorry, and stopped blaming the grandson. They also made amends by reciting a Buddhist sutra and dedicating the merits to their grandson. When the grandparents started treating the grandson well in spite of the grandson mistreating them, this is analogous to making big deposits into the relationship bank account. Soon, the grandson would surely start feeling a bit bad that he treats the grandparents so badly when the grandparents keep treating him with patience and tolerance. That's a sign of turning past karma around. Eventually, the son would start treating the grandparents well, which means that the good karmic seeds planted in the past have started to mature and fruit. We can speculate that if this old couple didn't understand the truth of karma and actually got angered to death by the grandson, what would happen? In a future life, the grandparents would become the grandson's children and get revenge. Moreover, the grandson angering his grandparents to death is a heavy sin, and he would be punished by his own negative karma by being reborn in the evil realms of hell, hungry ghost, or animal. While we're on this point, it's worth pointing out that sin is separate from debt. To give an analogy, if someone robs $1000 from the bank, that person has the crime of robbery and needs to go to jail. That's the sin. That person also owes the bank $1000. That's the debt. Collecting a debt is justified. But collecting a debt with harshness, meanness, and excessiveness is a sin, and it will lead to karmic punishment for oneself. The problem is people are poisoned by anger and resentment, and so they create negative karma in the process of collecting debts, which later causes them to be reborn in the evil realms and receive immense suffering. Although we might not be able to ask a Buddhist master to help us see into past lives, we should firmly believe that the way others treat us now is a result of the way we have treated others in the past. Moreover, the way we treat them now will determine how they treat us in the future. Warning: We shouldn't search for people with supernatural powers. Most of the people who say they have supernatural powers out there are scammers. I share this story for educational purposes on karma, not to encourage people to seek out people with supernatural powers. The Buddha and many of his students also had supernatural powers, which arose naturally from spiritual cultivation. However, the Buddha forbade his students from using supernatural powers because evil spirits also have supernatural powers. If the Buddha actually used supernatural powers, then in the future, people wouldn't be able to discern a true spiritual teacher from evil spirits. The author of Records of Real Contemporary Karma Cases also did not disclose the identity of the monk who could see past lives because the monk does not want people to search for him. The monk only wishes to help spread the wisdom of karma education. Story 2: Venerable Jing Kong's Tough Benefactor Below are stories from the book The Role Modeling of the Old Master. The original book is in Chinese, and I have translated the stories to English. In his earlier years, Venerable Jing Kong had a benefactor named Ms. Han who supported him financially, providing him a place to live, study, and lecture on Buddhism. Image Source However, Ms. Han was notorious for her bad temper. Many of Venerable Jing Kong's early students decided to leave his side because they couldn't stand Ms. Han's temper. It is commonly known in Buddhist circles that laypeople should respect monks because monks represent the Buddha. However, there were times when Venerable Jing Kong was lecturing on stage, and then Ms. Han got very angry at something, walked into the lecture room, and demanded Venerable Jing Kong to get off stage, and then she would start blaming him and shouting at him. When this happened, Venerable Jing Kong did not get upset or argue back. He would apologize sincerely and give a bow. Ms. Han would then have nothing to say. Then Venerable Jing Kong would return to the stage and continue the dharma lecture as if nothing had happened. Other times, Ms. Han would buy Venerable Jing Kong clothing or shoes that were too big, and then ask him if it fights just right. He would reply, "Yes, it fits just right." Or she would drag him to department stores while she was running errands for hours. Venerable Jing Kong wouldn't complain; instead, he would just find somewhere to sit and read. Not only did Venerable Jing Kong not complain about Ms. Han, he sincerely and broadly praised her. Many of his students couldn't understand why he viewed Ms. Han so highly. They focused on her numerous faults, but Venerable Jing Kong ignored the faults and only focused on her strengths and kindness. One time before a dharma lecture started, he was chatting with the audience members. He talked about how difficult it was for Ms. Han to rent these lecture halls, to gather funds, to manage operations. The audience members had previously heard bad things about Ms. Han, but now they saw her in a new light of admiration. In a speech in 2017 commemorating Ms. Han, Venerable Jing Kong said, "Ms. Han was a very capable person. She supported me for 30 years, all the way to her final years. Without her support, it would've been as my teacher Mr. Li said: a dead end. From my teacher, I learned the six paramitas: giving, precepts, endurance, diligence, stillness, and wisdom. I practiced these paramitas at Ms. Han's Buddhist center. Without these thirty years, how could I possibly eliminate my afflictions and bad habits? Very difficult. Your situations aren't as good as mine. You don't have someone like Ms. Han grinding you. Honestly speaking, you don't have the patience to endure thirty years of grinding. How can you possibly succeed? You cannot. Thirty years of grinding and training allowed me to succeed in Buddhist cultivation." Image Source Commentary 2: When I first heard these stories, I just thought about how amazing Venerable Jing Kong's virtues of patience and calmness are. If it were me, I would totally get upset over such rude and unreasonable behavior. Why could he remain so calm? I speculate that one reason is because he firmly understands karma. Why would Ms. Han dump emotional tantrums on Venerable Jing Kong the most? It's related to the way he treated her in past lives. Just like when the grandparents from the first story understood past life karma, they no longer blamed the grandson, similarly, Venerable Jing Kong did not blame Ms. Han. Ms. Han also vented negative emotions of his students, but not as much as on Venerable Jing Kong. This means that they all treated her badly in the past, but Venerable Jing Kong has the greatest debt. As mentioned before, people's relationships are usually a mixture of repaying kindness, getting revenge, collecting debt, and repaying debt. Ms. Han also treated Venerable Jing Kong very well in other aspects. She worked extremely hard to support him materially and in promoting Buddhism. That also implies that Venerable Jing Kong must've helped her greatly in the past too, though perhaps with a bad temper. Venerable Jing Kong also said before that Ms. Han being able to support him is already more than he could hope for or ask for. Therefore, anything that he has to put up with, including her temper, is insignificant compared to the great kindness she has given. This is using morality to guide our thinking. I'm far behind Venerable Jing Kong's level of cultivation. I sometimes get upset when my mother misunderstands me, doubts me, or says exaggerated criticism. I would blame her for not asking me my intentions or checking the facts with me. However, I have gotten better by practicing using karma to guide my thinking. I have also misunderstood her and doubted her in the past. And I presume in past lives, I must've done it to her too. Thus, it's inevitable that I receive the karmic retribution of being misunderstood and unfairly criticized. If I can calmly accept it, not only will my spiritual cultivation elevate, I will also plant the seeds for a better future. Indeed, I noticed that when I humbly accept criticism, the negative situation ends very quickly (ending of karmic retribution), and my mom even praises me about it after (appearance of fortune). Story 3: Money Stolen Aside from enduring mistreatment from Ms. Han, there was one time Venerable Jing was abroad teaching in the US. Back in Taiwan, his Buddhist center was robbed, and he lost twenty thousand Taiwan dollars. His student was furious, thinking, "Of all places you choose to steal, you choose a Buddhist center! Shame on you!" He promptly called Venerable Jing Kong and reported the situation. Venerable Jing Kong simply laughed it off. Commentary 3: I actually heard this student of Venerable Jing Kong spoke more about this incident. He never asked Venerable Jing Kong why he laughed, but he thought about it himself using karma. He concluded that Venerable Jing Kong, Ms. Han, and him must have stolen money from this robber in a past life, which is why this robber was able to steal money from them this life. Moreover, Venerable Jing Kong lost the most money, then Ms. Han, then the student himself. Therefore, Venerable Jing Kong must have stolen the most money, then Ms. Han, then the student himself. Perhaps Venerable Jing Kong laughed it off because he understood that this is returning a karmic debt, and he was happy to return the debt. Or he was happy that he felt no anger when hearing "bad" news. One time I did some work abroad for a university, and the university asked for my phone number to transfer me payment via Alipay. I accidentally mistyped my phone number by one digit. As a result, they sent the money to a different person. I tried to get in touch with the person and explain the situation. However, the person said I was a scammer and refused to transfer the money to me. I was quite upset at the time and couldn't believe I made such a careless error causing such a big loss. But later, I tried to learn from Venerable Jing Kong and told myself: Everything is karma. It's not random chance that I just happened to make this dumb error that resulted in the money going to this person of all people. I guess I owe this person from a past life, so getting upset at them now is not justified. Instead, I told myself "I am sorry if I took money unfairly from this person in the past and did not repay it. Let the cycle of debt collection end here with me letting go." Besides, what's meant to be mine will definitely be mine. If I'm meant to have that money, then even if I don't get it through this channel, it'll come through a different channel in the future. It's not like my life will be severely impacted by this one loss, so I'll just move on. Conclusion Good relationships are key to a happy life. But pretty much everyone has conflicts and feels mistreated at times. When we understand karma, we'll be able to face such situations much better. Broadly speaking, there are four types of karmic relationships: repaying kindness, getting revenge, repaying debt, and collecting debt. Most relationships are a mixture of all four. How others treat us is a result of how we treated them in the past. Therefore, receiving "mistreatment" is actually fair and justified, so we have no basis for getting angry. Moreover, how we respond now will determine our future karma, and it is also a reflection of our cultivation. If we get angry and retaliate, then that leads to an endless cycle of worsening retaliation. If we instead accept responsibility for our past actions, repent, and make amends, then our cultivation will elevate and our future will be better. Weekly Wisdom #387

Ferocious forest fires. Severe storms. Deadly droughts. Furious floods. Just in 2021, we’ve had unprecedented heat waves in temperate places (e.g., Seattle, Portland, British Columbia), wildfires in cool regions (e.g., Western US, Russia, and Siberia), and flooding in major urban areas in Germany, Belgium, and China. We aren’t just experiencing “climate change” now, we’re experiencing climate chaos . Climate agreements like the 2015 Paris Agreement aim to stop the temperature rising at 2°C, but even that’s just a hopeful goal at the current rate we’re going. This article will take a look at what a 2°C higher Earth will look like and how we can do our part to help our one-and-only planet Earth. A 2°C Warmer World According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2021 Report , the Earth’s global average temperature has already risen by 1.09°C since the 1800s, with each of the past four decades being warmer than the previous due to human-made greenhouse gas emissions. That means we are well on our way to a 2°C warmer world. While 2°C may not sound like a big number, it actually has big implications . First of all, 2°C refers to the average temperature increase around the globe; some parts will increase more than 2°C, and some parts may even get colder, hence the “climate chaos”. Heat waves will become more widespread and deadly, with scientists predicting that 40% of the world’s population will be affected. In areas like India, monsoons will be stronger, but the droughts in-between will also last longer. As the arctic regions melt more and more, sea levels will begin to rise and flood coastal regions, which means we will have to start redrawing maps. The IPCC predicts that by 2100, the average sea level will have risen by 50 CM, which is enough to flood major cities like Shanghai, Lagos, Jakarta, and many others. According to research from Cornell University, we could have more than 1.4 billion environmental refugees by 2060. Clearly, a 2°C warmer world is a big deal. It’s a world where food is harder to get, drinking water is more scarce, weather is more extreme. So given how serious this issue is, what can we do to help calm climate chaos? Well, first we need to know what's contributing to climate change, and here's a useful chart from the US Environmental Protection Agency: Image Source As individuals, the area we can impact most is food and agriculture (24%), then electricity (25%), then transportation (14%). 1: Food and Agriculture What we eat tells the government and agriculture businesses what foods to make more of. Most of us probably don’t think much about the environmental impact of our every meal, but it’s actually quite a big deal! The award-winning documentary, Cowspiracy , goes into deep detail about how animal agriculture is ruining the planet, and how the animal agriculture industry is keeping their dark secrets hidden from the public. It’s well worth the watch, and you can also check out their facts page . The film Seaspiracy ( facts page ) is similar to Cowspiracy , except it talks about commercial fishing. For the purposes of this article, we’ll just look at the key points: Animal agriculture and greenhouse gases Animal agriculture and water use Animal agriculture and land use Animal agriculture and world hunger Commercial fishing and the environment Eating less animal products is #1 thing we can do to help the environment 1.1 Animal Agriculture and Greenhouse Gases All the world’s cars, trucks, trains, boats, planes, and any other vehicles combined make around 13% of the world’s greenhouse gases, while cows alone make 18%. Furthermore, cows don’t just contribute CO2, they also contribute methane, which is at least 28 times more destructive than CO2. The good news is that methane doesn’t stay in the atmosphere as long, which means if we reduce methane, we’ll see positive effects within decades, whereas reducing CO2 takes hundreds of years to see effects. 1.2 Animal Agriculture and Water Use Animal agriculture uses one third of the planet’s fresh water. In the US, animal agriculture accounts for 56% of water usage, while private homes only account for 5%. Animal products take a crazy amount of water to make: 1 pound of beef needs 2500 gallons (9463 litres) of water 1 pound of milk needs 1000 gallons (3785 litres) of water 1 pound of cheese needs 900 gallons (3407 litres) of water 1 pound of eggs needs 477 gallons (1806 litres) of water In comparison, 1 pound of wheat needs 25 gallons (95 litres) of water To give an analogy, the beef in a quarter-pounder burger from McDonald’s takes 625 gallons (2366 litres) of water to make, which is equivalent to a person showering for 2 months! Rather than worrying about reducing our water usage, it’s much more impactful to reduce the amount of animal products we consume. 1.3 Animal Agriculture and Land Use A meat eater in America uses 18 times more land than a vegan. Animal agriculture uses 45% of the Earth’s land and is responsible for up to 91% of Amazon Rainforest destruction. The Amazon Rainforest were considered the lungs of the Earth, and animal agriculture has wrecked havoc on them. Burning 1 gallon of gasoline in a car release 19 pounds of CO2 into the air, but clearing enough rainforest to produce just 1 hamburger releases 165 pounds of CO2. Furthermore, cutting down rainforests destroys homes of countless animals. And unlike coniferous forests, tropical rainforests can never be replaced after being cut down. 1.4 Animal Agriculture and World Hunger We are currently growing enough food to feed 10 billion people. However, 50% of the world’s grains and legumes are being fed to livestock instead of people. 82% of starving children live in countries where food is fed to animals, and the animals are eaten by western countries. We could also produce more food if we used land for growing plants instead of for factory farms. 1.5 acres of land can produce 375 pounds of beef or 37,000 pounds of plant-based foods, which is almost 1000 times more food! 1.5 Commercial Fishing and the Environment When we think of carbon sinks, we usually think of forests since trees take in CO2 and release oxygen. But did you know that the ocean is the biggest carbon sink on our planet? 93% of all CO2 is stored in ocean, and the ocean absorbs four times the amount of CO2 than the Amazon Rainforest. Up to 85% of the world’s oxygen actually come from phytoplankton that live in the ocean. A healthy ocean means a healthy planet, and an unhealthy ocean is serious bad news for all of us. Currently, our oceans are already massively overfished. The global fishing industry catches 5 million fish every minute, 2.7 trillion fish every year. And when these nets “catch” fish, they also kill the fish. Even worse, up to 40% of all the fish caught and killed by the nets are called “bycatch”, which means they don’t even want that fish so they just throw the dead fish back into the sea. That’s 1.1 trillion fish killed every year and thrown overboard. At the current rate of overfishing, we might see fishless oceans by as quick as 2048! These giant industrial fishing ships also throw away tons of plastic ropes and dangerous nets, which account for 46% of all the plastic garbage in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. In comparison, plastic straws only account for 0.03%. Our oceans have become a toxin plastic soup due to all the plastic waste from commercial fishing, as well as all the waste that animal factory farms dump into the oceans. These giant fishing nets can swallow an entire cathedral, and they have heavy weights at the bottom that scrap away at the ocean floor, destroying all the marine plants that are storing 93% of the world’s CO2, as well as the fish that are needed to support marine plants and phytoplankton. Given how depleted our oceans have become, we need to prioritize restoring ocean habitats by leaving the fish and their home alone. 1.6 Eating Less Animal Products A 2011 report by the Environmental Working Group compared the environmental impact of common foods: Image Source The worst foods for our environment are lamb, beef, cheese, pork, farmed salmon, turkey, chicken, canned tuna, and eggs. Plant alternatives like lentils, beans, and nuts are tens of times lower in CO2. Hypothetically, let’s say someone decides to go vegan and cut out all animal products (including seafood) from their diet, how big of an impact would that person have on the environment? Compared to a typical American meat eater, that person would save each day 1100 gallons (4164 litres) of water 45 pounds of grain 30 sq ft of forest 20 pounds of CO2 At least 1 animal’s life Image Source: Cowspiracy When more people eat less animal products, the animal agriculture companies would naturally breed less animals, then the farms would get smaller, forests and wildlife would come back, and nature would recover. A young Swedish student named Greta Thunberg created an amazing 5-minute video explaining the link between food and nature, and despite being just a teenager, she has received numerous rewards for her environmental activism. Here's her short video : Practically speaking, most people aren’t going to go vegan overnight. Changing habits isn’t easy, but if you know how to do it, it doesn’t have to be hard. For more on habit change, I recommend reading the article How to Build Healthy Habits that Stick . While eating less animal products might sound distasteful (no pun intended), the good news is that there are so many vegan mock meats and mock seafood that taste just as good but don’t have the negative environmental impact and harmful health consequences . Try going to a highly rated vegan restaurant near you to experience for yourself how tasty vegan meats can be; you can even find vegan meats at most supermarkets now! Now that we know how impactful our food choices are on the environment, we should do our best to contribute in whatever way we can by reducing our consumption of animal products to the best of our ability. 2: Electricity Changing our diet is by far the most impactful thing we can do for the environment, but reducing our electricity usage is another helpful area as well. Image Source You can easily find over 100 tips for saving electricity with a quick internet search, but here are some major ones that most of us can do: Swap out incandescent light bulbs for energy-efficient LED bulbs, which use as little as 10% of the energy of incandescent bulbs. Buy energy-efficient appliances, such as those with the Energy Star label in America. Unplug your electronic devices and chargers when not using them. As long as devices or chargers are plugged in, they are drawing electricity. Get good insulation for your home to reduce the need for heating in the winter and air conditioning in the summer. Get good windows and doors that tightly seal in air to reduce the need for heating and air conditioning. Turn off the heater or air conditioning when you’re not home. Use a programmable thermostat to prevent yourself from forgetting. Turn the heating lower at night when sleeping. Use a programmable thermostat to prevent yourself from forgetting. Hand-wash your clothes. If you have to use the washing machine, only run full-loads and use cold water. Hang dry your clothes rather than using the drying machine. Hand-wash your dishes rather than using a dishwashing machine. These tips will help us save a lot of electricity in the long-run, which is great for the wallet and the planet. 3: Transportation It’s common knowledge that pollution from gas vehicles contribute to global warming. Image Source Here are a few tips to reduce CO2 from transportation: Drive less. Instead, use public transportation, carpooling, biking, or walking whenever you can. Drive a fuel-efficient car, hybrid car, or best of all, electric car. Keep your tires properly inflated to improve fuel efficiency The impact of making transportation changes is not as big as changing our diet and reducing electricity usage, and there isn’t as much we can do, but we should still do whatever we can. 4: Other Things We Can Do Aside from eating less animal products, reducing electricity, and driving less, there are some other major things we can do to help the environment, and (surprise or not) they relate to food: Buy local food Buy organic food Reduce food waste Compost food waste Plant a garden A great documentary that goes into these points in detail is The Need to Grow , but this article will explain the major points. Image Source 4.1 Buy Local In America, the average grocery store food travels over 1500 miles to reach the grocery store, while local food is usually produced within 100 miles. Aside from saving a lot of CO2 from food transportation, buying local also means the food is fresher and tastier. 4.2 Buy Organic Over the last century, farmers have been encouraged to use chemical fertilizers to gain a short-term boost in production at the cost of long-term sustainability. These chemical fertilizer increases plant growth in the first year but kills the soil such that next year, you have to add more fertilizer to get the same yield. A 30-year study showed that organic agriculture has proven to match or surpass yields using chemical fertilizers. Organic food also avoids the harmful pesticide and insecticide sprays, which make them healthier and safer for humans, and less damaging to the environment. 4.3 Reduce Food Waste Did you know that Americans waste 30-40% of their food? That hurts both the wallet and the planet. Food takes up more space in US landfills than anything else! One reason is that we put food in the back of the fridge and forget about it. Later, we find the food has gone bad so we throw it out. To prevent this problem, we can inspect what's in the fridge every weekend and bring to the front what needs to be eaten soon. It’s also important to store foods properly for maximum storage life, and tools like Save the Food explain how to do. A second factor is restaurants giving more food than we can eat. If we just leave the leftovers on the plate, the restaurant will throw it out. Instead, we can take the leftovers to go and eat them later at home. A third factor is grocery stores only selling what looks nice and throwing away what doesn't look nice or is not-so-fresh. Fortunately, many supermarkets will try to sell these not-so-fresh foods at a discount before throwing them away. The next time you go to a supermarket, check out the discounted food section and try to buy whatever you can eat in the next day or two. It’ll be cheaper and prevent food waste. 4.4 Compost Food Waste Did you know that over 97% of food waste ends up in landfills, where they rot away and emit greenhouse gases? If we instead compost that food, the food then turns into soil , which returns vital nutrients to our soil and reduces CO2 in the air. If you don’t have a garden, look for compost drop-offs in your community. 4.5 Plant a Garden If you have a garden area, try planting some vegetables. That way, you can reduce the amount of food you buy from the supermarket, which likely traveled over 1500 miles. Furthermore, you can eat fresh, organic vegetables straight from the garden, which will be extremely tasty and healthy. Some really easy plants that need little to no maintenance include lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, spinach, beans, peppers, and root vegetables. Changes I’ve Made In the past, whenever I heard about climate change and environmentalism, I always thought about reducing driving and electricity usage, never about changing my diet. But now I know that my food choices make the largest impact by far. Not only do I eat vegan now, I also plant a garden, compost, and have almost zero food waste. When I go to the grocery store, I look for organic and/or local first and buy that whenever possible. I also check the discounted food section and buy anything that I can eat in the next couple of days to prevent it from being thrown out. Lastly, I use reusable cloth bags instead so that I don’t need plastic bags from the store. I also do many things to save electricity. I got LED lights and energy efficient appliances. I had the insulation changed, and the house has become so much better at retaining heat in the winter and cold in the summer. I pre-programmed my thermostat to reduce the heating at night, and I turn it off when no one is in the house. Most of the time, I hand-wash my clothes and air-dry them instead of using the washing machine and dryer. The only time I use the machines is for really big items like blankets or winter jackets. I hand-wash and air-dry my dishes, and I repurposed my dishwasher to be a storage rack. Transportation wise, I mostly take public transportation. If I’m meeting up with friends, we carpool. If I do drive, I check that the tires are inflated properly, and that at least two people are in the car. My family car is still in great shape, but if we had to get a new car in the future, we would definitely look at environmentally friendly options. Although I’m just one person among billions, I can have a clear conscience knowing that I’m doing my part to help the Earth. As Gandhi once said, “Be the change you want to see.” Image Source These changes aren’t just better for the environment, they are also better for our health and wallet! I hope this article will also inspire you to make some good changes.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND BLOG Who are you? I'm just a fellow student of life, trying to contribute something meaningful to the world. I'm a high school teacher by day and an amateur blogger in my free time. Why did you start this blog? I'm passionate about learning, and I believe great things should be shared! I believe having wisdom is the key to happiness and success. Only when we have the right mindset and ideas, we will do the right actions and get good results. Hence, I started this blog to share wisdom that I've learned and practiced so that others might avoid the suffering I've experienced and gain joy and success. Why do you use a picture of a smiling owl? Because owls represent wisdom, and when we use wisdom in life, we will gain joy. What should I do on this blog? I suggest you either browse around or use the search bar for specific topics. You can also scroll down on the home page to see all the different tags (topics) on the blog. Click on any you that catch your interest to see articles on that topic. You can also browse a category that interests you. I created 5 categories for the blog: Weekly Wisdoms are my weekly learning reports. My intention is to make sure I keep learning, but since these learnings are useful to others, I publish them on my blog. Top Picks are articles that I think deserve special mention. Book Summaries are long posts summarizing books that I think are worth sharing. Stories are short stories with lessons worth reflecting on and sharing. Health covers basic knowledge we could all use in terms of physical health and mental health. I also blog about Traditional Chinese Medicine. Ancient Wisdom is about timeless wisdom from ancient sages and philosophies, such as Stoicism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism. How can I support you? You can simply read some articles and press the heart button if you found them useful 😃. Another way is to comment on my posts about what you found useful. Can I request a topic for you to write about? Sure! I'd be happy to write about any topics that are useful to a large group of people. You can make a request by sending me a message on the Contact Page. About: About

WELCOME I believe that the key to a happy and successful life is wisdom. When we think wisely, we act wisely. Then we naturally reap joy and success. ​ I started this blog to ensure that I grow in wisdom every week, while also sharing useful learnings with others. These are my personal learnings and experiences, but perhaps they can help others avoid my past suffering and to gain happiness. ​ Feel free to browse around, use the search bar, or click on any of the buttons below to read about popular topics on this blog. ​ Happiness Relationships Success Productivity Health Communication All Top Picks Stories Health 中文 Book Summaries Ancient Wisdom Weekly Wisdom Short Wisdoms Wisdom Quotes Alex Chen 13 hours ago 11 min 22 Things I'm Grateful For In 2022 In honour of Thanksgiving 2022, here are 22 things I am grateful for. What about you? 0 comments 1 like. Post not marked as liked 1 Alex Chen Oct 2 6 min Yielding & Humility ≠ Being Weak Being yielding and humble are excellent and important traits. At the same time, we mustn't become weak, insincere, or resentful. 0 comments 3 likes. Post not marked as liked 3 Alex Chen Sep 25 18 min Ten Ways To Deal With Difficult People (And Even Work Well With Them) How can we deal with difficult people, or even better, work well with them? Here are 10 useful and practical solutions from Stoicism. 0 comments 6 likes. Post not marked as liked 6 Alex Chen Sep 18 4 min Ten Tips for Suicide Prevention September 10 was World Suicide Prevention Day, and shortly after that, a classmate in my Chinese philosophy class told us she was having... 0 comments 3 likes. Post not marked as liked 3 Alex Chen Sep 11 4 min 50 Fun Jokes That Don't Make Fun of Others I am a big fan of good humor, and I think everyone would enjoy more laughter in their lives. Here are 50 fun and respectful jokes. Enjoy! 0 comments 6 likes. Post not marked as liked 6 Alex Chen Sep 4 7 min Take Blame, Give Glory Normal people avoid blame and take glory. Wise people take blame and give glory. 0 comments 7 likes. Post not marked as liked 7 Alex Chen Aug 27 7 min Don't Play The Blame Game Rather than blaming others and the outside world, focus on taking responsibility and giving reciprocity. 0 comments 8 likes. Post not marked as liked 8 Alex Chen Aug 21 5 min Stoic Joy is Real Joy Real joy, according to Stoicism, comes from a deep sense of purpose, inner confidence, and emotional stability. 0 comments 7 likes. Post not marked as liked 7 Alex Chen Aug 13 6 min Lessons From Lao Zi’s Teacher Four parting lessons from Lao Zi's teacher: 1. Be grateful to our roots, 2. Respect elders, 3. Respect Nature, 4. Be soft and adaptable. 0 comments 6 likes. Post not marked as liked 6 Alex Chen Aug 7 4 min How to Handle The Death of Loved Ones 1. Be loving while they are alive. 2. Follow the Middle Way. 3. Ask them their wishes for you. 4. Carry on their dreams. 0 comments 3 likes. Post not marked as liked 3 Alex Chen Jul 31 11 min The Enlightened Mind - Explanation and Application Enlighten your mind, and your world will change accordingly. Have sincerity, purity, equality, wisdom, and compassion. 0 comments 5 likes. Post not marked as liked 5 Alex Chen Jul 25 4 min Commemorating Venerable Master Jing Kong 2022 A bittersweet (mostly sweet) commemoration of my idol and teacher, Venerable Master Jing Kong. 0 comments 5 likes. Post not marked as liked 5 Alex Chen Jul 23 20 min Seven Timely Acts of Love Love and respect are not just empty words, they are shown on a daily basis through each and every small action. 0 comments 7 likes. Post not marked as liked 7 Alex Chen Jul 15 6 min Why So Harsh On Yourself? Are you harsh and demanding towards yourself or your loved ones? If so, let's untangle that knot for you. 0 comments 6 likes. Post not marked as liked 6 Alex Chen Jul 8 3 min The Old Man And His Grandson A short story on the The Golden Rule and the importance of role modeling. 0 comments 3 likes. Post not marked as liked 3 Alex Chen Jul 5 6 min Learnings From A Wise Friend Major learnings from my wise friend over the past year in honor of his birthday. 0 comments 6 likes. Post not marked as liked 6 Alex Chen Jul 1 3 min Can You Feel Their Hardship? No one is perfect. Do you focus on their hardships, efforts, and contributions? Or do you focus on their imperfections? 0 comments 5 likes. Post not marked as liked 5 Alex Chen Jun 29 3 min The Body is The Temple of The Soul How my mother and I came to value cooking and nourishing the body more. 0 comments 5 likes. Post not marked as liked 5 Alex Chen Jun 24 5 min Confucius Worries Too "Not cultivating virtues, not striving to learn, not emulating others' goodness, and not correcting bad behavior, these are my worries." 0 comments 4 likes. Post not marked as liked 4 Alex Chen Jun 18 5 min Is it my responsibility to know what you want? The answer...it depends on if I truly love them or if I just want a transactional relationship. 0 comments 4 likes. Post not marked as liked 4 1/14 22 Things I'm Grateful For In 2022 0 1 like. Post not marked as liked 1 Yielding & Humility ≠ Being Weak 0 3 likes. Post not marked as liked 3 Ten Ways To Deal With Difficult People (And Even Work Well With Them) 0 6 likes. 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