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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.

In the first article  of this karma series, we looked at five basic rules of karma. In the second article , we looked at two stories to go into more depth on how karma requires time. In the third article , we studied four stories that showcased how karma has size and heaviness, as well as the distinction between shared and individual karma. This article will look at the hidden versus visible aspects of karmic seeds, which we can call hidden merit (good karmic causes) and hidden faults (bad karmic causes). Liao Fan's Four Lessons  is an excellent book on the subject of karma, and it talks about the difference between hidden and visible goodness: "What is hidden goodness and visible goodness? When one does good and others know about it, it is called visible goodness. When one does good and others don't know about it, it is called hidden virtue. Those with hidden virtues will be rewarded by the Heavens, while those with visible goodness enjoy a good reputation among people.   A good reputation is a type of fortune, but it is disliked by the Heavens. Those with a great reputation but lack the virtues to support it will eventually encounter many strange disasters. Meanwhile, those who haven't done wrong yet are unfairly blamed by others will have descendants that suddenly become prosperous and successful. The boundary between hidden and visible goodness is extremely subtle!"   (Original text: 何謂陰陽？凡為善而人知之，則為陽善；為善而人不知，則為陰德。陰德，天報之；陽善，享世名。名，亦福也。名者，造物所忌；世之享盛名而實不副者，多有奇禍；人之無過咎而橫被惡名者，子孫往往驟發，陰陽之際微矣哉。) Image Source: GPT   Fortune is similar to money. We need fortune for life to go smoothly and obtain what we want. When we do good and others don't know about it, it's like accumulating savings in the fortune bank account. When others know about our goodness and start praising us for it, that's like spending our fortune dollars (whether we want that to happen or not). If the praise exceeds our true virtues, then our bank balance will quickly run out, and it will go into deficit. Then troubles and disasters will start appearing.   If that explanation seems too abstract, let's look at it from another perspective. If we do good deeds and people know about it, they will probably praise us. When people see us, they will respect us. Receiving their praise and respect is a form of fortune.   However, if they praise us excessively, people will have unrealistically high expectations for us. Then when they see that we aren't actually that good, their praise and respect will turn into slander and disdain. A good reputation can easily turn into a bad one, which is why Mr. Liao Fan said the boundary between hidden and visible goodness is very subtle.   From another perspective, there is always a percentage of the population that is jealous of the famous or wants to use other people's fame to obtain fame for themselves. So the more famous we are, the more people who will be jealous of us and slander us to try to obtain fame for themselves.   From yet another perspective, misunderstandings are inevitable, and people will hear fragmented bits of information about you and jump to conclusions without truly understanding the whole picture. They may not have ill-will; it's just a misunderstanding. Again, the more famous we are, the more this will happen.   From a past life karma perspective, we have misunderstood people in the past, and our fame is now a condition for them to misunderstand and criticize us. Thus, we shouldn't get upset at others for jumping to conclusions and criticizing wrongly. They are simply collecting a debt that we owe. If we willingly pay the debt back, then the conflict is over. If we get upset at the debt collector, then the negative cycle of revenge will continue. Image Source To be fair, when we get more famous, there will also be more people who understand us and support us if we are truly good. Thus, fame is a condition for both more supporters and criticizers.   To give an analogy, imagine a product being sold online. At the beginning, the product is not famous, so there are few reviews. First, the seller's family and friends buy it and write positive reviews. Later, some people from the general public find it. They read the positive reviews and have high expectations. Some people like it and give positive reviews. Others think it's not as good as others say, and so they write negative reviews.   As the number of people who know this product increases, both the number of positive reviews and negative reviews increase. Some reviews are extremely negative, and this could be for a variety of reasons. Perhaps the person got a defective product, or they were just in a bad mood that day, or they wanted attention, or they don't like another person who uses that product. These are all ways fame can attract trouble for the product. The same is true with a person's fame.   If the product is truly worthy of a good reputation, it will have more positive reviews than negative reviews. Moreover, when people see those unjustified negative reviews, they will write responses to argue and restore the good reputation of the product. If the product is not worthy, then the negative reviews will dominate, and eventually this product will go out of business.   From all these different perspectives, we can see why fame is a dangerous tool that requires sufficient virtue to handle. Therefore, wise people wouldn't actively seek fame. They would rather accumulate hidden virtues. However, if wise people become famous unintentionally, they wouldn't gloat or show off. They would remain humble, say that the praise they receive is too high, and use their fame to help the world.   Remember that hidden and visible goodness is just one aspect of karma. We can layer on top the aspect of big and small. If someone has extremely big hidden goodness, then they will likely receive a good reputation in this lifetime without seeking it. This is their flower-retribution. The fruit-retribution might be rebirth into Heaven next life.   The opposite is true for hidden and visible sins. If we commit a small wrongdoing and people know about it, people will criticize and slander us. The karmic retribution will be over. If we commit a small hidden sin that people don't know, then even though we might not get criticized for it, we might encounter some sort of strange inconvenience in the future. If we accumulate great hidden sins, then we will eventually encounter great disaster and suffer a terrible death.   Below are some historical accounts to illustrate the principles of hidden goodness and hidden sins.     Story 1: The Hidden Merit of Rong Yang's Ancestors   In Jian Ning, there was a prominent man named Rong Yang (楊榮) who held a very high position in the imperial court as the Emperor's teacher. For generations, his family made their living ferrying people across rivers.   Once, there was a long storm that caused fierce flooding, which swept away people's homes and drowned many people. Many boaters sought to loot valuables from the water. Only Rong Yang's great-grandfather and grandfather devoted themselves solely to rescuing people and did not take any of the floating goods. The other boaters laughed and mocked them for being foolish. Image Source: Edited from Liao Fan's Four Lesson's Manga p. 97   By the time Rong Yang's father was born, the family gradually became prosperous. One day, a Heavenly spirit manifested as a Daoist monk and told the Yang family, "Your ancestors have accumulated hidden merit, so your descendants shall receive wealth and prominence. There is a special place where you should build your ancestral tomb." The family followed the Daoist's instructions. Today, their ancestral tomb is known as the White Rabbit Tomb.   Later, when Rong Yang was born, he passed the imperial examination when he was only twenty years old and rose to the rank of one of the Three Excellencies (the three highest officials and the emperor's closest advisors). The emperor even bestowed his great grandfather and grandfather with the same imperial honours. To this day, many stellar people continue to emerge from the family.   (Source: Liao Fan's Four Lessons )   (Original Text: 楊少師榮、建寧人。世以濟渡為生，久雨溪漲，橫流衝毀民居，溺死者順流而下，他舟皆撈取貨物，獨少師曾祖及祖，惟救人，而貨物一無所取，鄉人嗤其愚。逮少師父生，家漸裕，有神人化為道者，語之曰：汝祖父有陰功，子孫當貴顯，宜葬某地。遂依其所指而窆之，即今白兔墳也。後生少師，弱冠登第，位至三公，加曾祖、祖、父，如其官。子孫貴盛，至今尚多賢者。)   Commentary 1: Rong Yang's great grandfather and grandfather were very sincere in helping others. They weren't greedy for the floating valuables at all. Even when they saw others taking advantage of the situation to get wealthy, they didn't get tempted. Such virtue is rare and precious, and it reflects how deep their virtues are. The depth of their virtue is "hidden".   Although people know that they saved many people, the amount of praise and fame they received at the time was very little compared to the actual substance of their goodness. In fact, they even got mocked for helping others instead of looting valuables. This is related to their past karma; they must have mocked others wrongfully in the past too.   But they didn't get upset at the mockery. They knew what they did was right, and they continued being moral people. In this way, their negative karma got eliminated quickly, and their positive karma would fruit faster.   As said in Liao Fan's Four Lessons , their descendants suddenly became prosperous and successful. This is the "excess fortune" left behind by the great grandfather and grandfather. Their great virtues and fortune attracted descendants with matching virtues and fortune to be born into the family. Given that the excess fortune is enough for descendants to attain the position of the emperor's teacher, we can only imagine how big their original fortune is! We can confidently assume that they were reborn into Heaven.   Story 2: Mr. Ying's Hidden Virtues When Taizhou's Imperial Secretary, Mr. Ying (應尚書), was young, he often studied in temples in the mountains. At night, he often heard the sound of ghosts and howls, but he was never afraid.   One night, he heard a ghost happily say to another ghost: "There is a village woman who's husband has gone away to earn a living and has not returned for a long time. Her in-laws believe their son is dead and are forcing the daughter-in-law to remarry. The woman, determined to remain chaste, plans to commit suicide tomorrow. That means she can replace me so that I can be reborn!"   (The souls of those who commit suicide have to wait for another to die at the same place they did in order to leave the ghost realm and attain rebirth at a higher realm.)   Mr. Ying heard this and immediately sold his own land. He pretended to be the husband by writing a letter home and enclosed the silver with it. The elderly parents noticed that the handwriting did not look like their son’s, but then reasoned, “The letter may be fake, but silver is not. Besides, who would send us this much money? Perhaps our son is truly alive and well, and we should not force our daughter-in-law to remarry." Later, their son indeed returned, and the family was joyfully reunited. Image Source: Edited from Liao Fan's Four Lessons Manga p. 115   Mr. Ying heard the ghosts converse again: "Originally, I was about to get a substitute, but this scholar has ruined my chance!"   Another ghost asked, "Why don't you inflict some harm on him?"   The first ghost replied, "No, I can't. His goodness and virtue has been recognized by the Heavens, and he will receive the position of Imperial Secretary due to his hidden virtues. How can I possibly harm him?"   Mr. Ying heard this and became even more diligent in practicing goodness and accumulating merit. Whenever there was a famine, he would use his own money to buy food for the poor and needy. Whenever his relatives encountered urgent difficulties, he would assist them even if he himself was struggling. Whenever he received unfair treatment and adversities, he would reflect on himself and accept the situation calmly rather than complain. Even to this day, his descendants are still very prominent.   (Source: Liao Fan's Four Lessons )   (Original Text: 台州應尚書，壯年習業於山中。夜鬼嘯集，往往驚人，公不懼也；一夕聞鬼云：某婦以夫久客不歸，翁姑逼其嫁人。明夜當縊死於此，吾得代矣。公潛賣田，得銀四兩。即偽作其夫之書，寄銀還家；其父母見書，以手跡不類，疑之。既而曰：書可假，銀不可假；想兒無恙。婦遂不嫁。其子後歸，夫婦相保如初。公又聞鬼語曰：我當得代，奈此秀才壞吾事。旁一鬼曰：爾何不禍之？曰：上帝以此人心好，命作陰德尚書矣，吾何得而禍之？應公因此益自努勵，善日加修，德日加厚；遇歲饑，輒捐穀以賑之；遇親戚有急，輒委曲維持；遇有橫逆，輒反躬自責，怡然順受；子孫登科第者，今累累也。)   Commentary 2: This story illustrates how the Heavens will reward hidden goodness. As stated in the Treatise on Cause and Response , there are many spirits in charge of recording people's merits and faults and reporting them to the Heavenly courts.   To be clear, these spirits and the Heavenly courts do not impose punishments or give rewards according to their own desires. They are like police officers. They simply keep records and they themselves follow the law of karma. All our fortune and misfortune are created by ourselves.   When the Heavenly court said that Mr. Ying would receive the position of Imperial Secretary in the future due to his hidden merit, it's not the Heavenly court that granted this position to him. The Heavenly court simply records this. The cause is ultimately Mr. Ying's own actions.   The Buddha also taught that people who are highly virtuous will attract virtuous spirits who guard them from malicious ghosts. On the other hand, evil and immoral people will attract malicious ghosts who try to harm them. This is because these ghosts have been harmed by that person in the past, and they are here to get revenge or collect a debt.   In reality, all of us have harmed living beings in the past. The reason our karmic debtors can't harm us right now might be because we still have excess fortune from the past, or we attracted guardian spirits from our virtues. However, if we start accumulating sins, our fortune will get used up soon, and guardian spirits will leave. Then, karmic debtors will be able to harm us.   When Mr. Ying sold his land to help that family, it was a large sacrifice. Thus, this is big and sincere goodness. He also didn't boast about it, so it remained as hidden goodness. In terms of helping the poor and needy and always reflecting on himself, although some people around him probably knew about these things, he didn't get widely praised in public, so it remained as hidden goodness. His abundant hidden goodness allowed him to attain the high position of Imperial Secretary with the excess fortune to have prominent descendants.   Story 3: Lord Wen Chang's Admonishment Regarding Hidden Merit and Hidden Sins During the Ming dynasty, in Yizhou (present day Taiyuan in Shanxi province), there was a man named Wang Yongyu (王用予). He was known for being generous and steady. In his daily life, he served The Heavenly Lord of Culture and Literature, Wen Chang , with great care and reverence.   Image Source Together with several friends, Wang Yongyu formed a local Wen Chang Worship Association. Every year on New Year’s Day, they would take turns setting up an altar and holding rituals at the Wen Chang shrine atop Yunzhong Mountain to pray for blessings.   Among the members was a man named Yu Lin (俞麟), who was renowned for his filial piety and careful conduct. Many people from near and far came to study under him and regarded him as their teacher. There was another man in the association named Yu Congzhou (郁從周), whose appearance was extraordinary, his bearing dignified and imposing, with exceptional talent and eloquence in both speech and writing. Everyone greatly admired and respected these two gifted scholars.   On New Year’s Day of 1441, Wang Yongyu arrived early at the Wen Chang shrine and stayed there overnight. That night, he had a dream.   He saw Lord Wen Chang ascending the Heavenly court, while the City Gods from all regions gathered before him, reporting the list of successful candidates for the provincial examinations. A Heavenly person wearing a court cap and red robe held a large register and presented it to the Lord for approval.   Wang Yongyu quietly asked this person, “Among the names from Shanxi province, are there Wang Yongyu, Yu Lin, or Yu Congzhou?”   The person replied, “None of them are listed.”   After a while, the City Gods withdrew to the sides. The red-robed person then brought the register forward and knelt as he presented it. Lord Wen Chang examined each name and marked approval beneath them. At times, however, he hesitated for a long while without marking.   Then the red-robed person proclaimed the Lord's decree: “Return this to the City Gods of each province. Quickly investigate families that have accumulated hidden virtue, and select sons of benevolent character. Submit their names to replace those candidates not approved by the Lord.”   At this moment, Wang Yongyu was hiding beneath a pillar in the hall. Suddenly, he heard his own name being called. He prostrated himself at the steps and was summoned before the Lord. The Lord said: “Matters of official success and rank are secret records of Heaven and must not be carelessly disclosed. However, because for more than ten years you have served me with unwavering sincerity, I have summoned you to explain.   Your grandfather was simple, upright, and self-reliant. He never took advantage of others. Because of this, your name was long ago recorded among the top candidates of the provincial examination as a reward for your family’s culture of devotion and generosity.   However, although you bow whenever you encounter statues of gods and Buddhas, your prayers are always for your own success and for your wife's recovery from illness, and that you may grow old together. Yet your old mother is still alive, and you have never prayed for gods and Buddhas to bless her. Because of this, your rank has been reduced by two grades. You will only place fifty-third on the lower list. You ought to correct your selfish attitude and behavior. Don't provoke Heaven any further!"   Wang Yongyu listened and repeatedly bowed in repentance. Image Source: GPT   Lord Wen Chang continued: “Zhou Ji (周吉), from your association, will be the top candidate of this examination.”   Among the members, Zhou Ji was the most timid and unassuming, and his learning and writing were inferior to others. Wang Yongyu was astonished and asked for the reason.   The Lord replied: “Zhou Ji’s father and grandfather were both scholars who never entered litigation nor committed sexual misconduct. For three generations, they never spoke of others’ faults nor exposed others’ wrongdoing. Moreover, Zhou Ji’s great-grandfather wrote the Essay on A Hundred Endurances to teach and transform people, influencing many.   Thus, for over sixty years, their family has quietly cultivated merit through simplicity and humility. This is the highest form of hidden virtue, unknown to others. Heaven has therefore specially rewarded them, recording prosperity and blessings for their next three generations. Zhou Ji’s success is only the beginning of his family’s fortune.”   Wang Yongyu then asked: “What about Yu Lin and Yu Congzhou from our association?”   The Lord checked the register and frowned in disapproval, saying: “Yu Lin originally should have passed an examination. However, he outwardly serves parents obediently, yet he harbours resentment in his heart. He also frequently criticizes others harshly and unreasonably, and falsely regards himself as an exemplary person. Therefore his imperial examination rank has been revoked, and he will remain in poverty all his life.”   Wang Yongyu  asked, “What does it mean to resent one’s parents in one's heart?”   The Lord said: “Though he appears obedient in speech and action, in his heart he disagrees and merely suppresses it. Outwardly he seems filial, but he departs from the True Nature more and more each day. This false filiality is no different from treating one’s parents as strangers. Deceiving the world to gain reputation most angers the spirits; Thus, he will be punished.   As for Yu Congzhou, he was originally a heaven-endowed genius. At twenty-six he could have passed the highest level of imperial exams and attained the Jinshi degree. In his early thirties, he could have become the Vice Censor-in-Chief. By forty-five he could have risen to the position of Grand Minister of Works and concurrently hold the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of Justice roles. At fifty four, he could have retired honorably, living to sixty-nine with a peaceful death.   However, since entering school at seventeen, he showed off his talent and became arrogant. His speech was full of sarcasm, mockery, and ridicule. The underworld has already recorded over 2,470 offenses of arrogant and disrespectful speech.   Heaven is enraged. His name has been placed in the register of hidden evil, and all his previously destined wealth and prestige have been removed. If he still does not repent and reaches three thousand offenses, his life will also be cut short, and his descendants will fall into beggary. Such arrogant and disrespectful speech harms the harmony of Heaven and Earth and violates divine taboos. These verbal sins are equal in severity to killing and sexual misconduct. All of you must be extremely cautious!”   After a long pause, the Lord added: “Even the slightest acts of sexual misconduct, killing, or sinful speech bring karmic retribution—this need not be said further. People who love themselves can refrain from killing and misconduct. But careless ridicule, sarcasm, and hidden malice in words—these become habits that are hard to detect. Eventually, one’s speech, expression, and even one’s heart become arrogant and disrespectful. All such offenses are recorded by spirits, and misfortune follows. A fate originally full of fortune can quickly turn into poverty and disgrace—this is truly tragic and frightening. You must widely advise the world to take this as a warning, so that I need not struggle and hesitate when approving the examination lists.”   Wang Yongyu bowed again and withdrew. At that moment, the great bell of the shrine rang, and he awoke. Outside, the rooster had already crowed three times. He immediately went to thank Lord Wen Chang and then wrote down the entire dream. When the examination results were announced in autumn, Zhou Ji indeed placed first in Shanxi. Wang Yongyu therefore made this account public in order to warn the world.   (Source: Collected Commentaries on The Treatise of Cause and Response )   Commentary 3: The first two stories mainly showcased hidden merit. This third story showcased both hidden merit and hidden sins. From this story, we can see that hidden sins include deceiving others for a good reputation.   Wang Yongyu had the hidden fault of neglecting his old mother, who gave him the most kindness by bringing him into this world and raising him. Yet he forgot her kindness and instead only thinks about his own success and his wife. Although most people wouldn't know about this, let alone slander him for it, the Heavens know it, and he received a corresponding reduction to his fortune.   Just to be clear, the reduction in fortune is the karmic result caused by his own unfilial behavior. Nobody can increase or reduce anyone's fortune. The Heavens and spirits merely record these deeds and execute the law of karma. In his past lives, he originally cultivated the fortune to be a top candidate at the provincial exams. However, this seed requires conditions in the present life to mature into the fruit of attaining that top candidate position. The condition required is that he continues being virtuous. His unfilial behavior is very unvirtuous, so he was unable to obtain the fruit of a top exam candidate. His level of virtue only allowed him to attain the fifty third on the lower list. This is a result of his own doing.   To give an analogy, maybe we have a very good seed. If we plant this seed in good soil, and it gets good water and sunlight frequently, it could grow to be a very strong tree with many big fruit. However, we ended up planting it in low quality soil, and we don't water it enough. As a result, it can still grow and bear some fruit, but it didn't attain its full potential. There's also a person on the side watching and recording the height of the plant. The recorder doesn't determine what happens to the tree, though he might criticize the planter for not taking good care of the tree. Ultimately, the recorder just keeps records. Yu Lin has the reputation of a filial son, but in reality, his heart is resentful and not respectful or loving towards his parents. His good reputation does not match his true reality, so his fortune is expended very fast, and he certainly won't have guardian spirits protecting him. Falling into poverty for the rest of his life is his flower-retribution. We can only imagine how much more severe his fruit retribution would be next life.   Theoretically, if he realized his sin of deceiving others and falsely holding the reputation of being a filial son, and then he confessed in public and repented for his sins, then that would eliminate some of his negative karma. Moreover, if people in public then started slandering him harshly and treating him with disrespect, that would also be eliminating some of his negative karma. This would be the negative flower retribution he receives this life, and it would reduce the severity of the fruit-retribution he receives next life. If he also corrected his ways and diligently cultivated goodness, he could even change his fate this life. Mr. Liao Fan is a good example of this.   As for Yu Congzhou, he accumulated a large quantity of verbal sins. While individually, each sin might not be a heavy offense, accumulated together, they become very big. People probably also couldn't criticize him much because he was so good at debating and using words, so it was hard for him to be humble and to think he has faults. He's an example of how accumulated sins become big and heavy.   From Yu Congzhou's case, we realize that we really have to be extra careful with verbal karma because it is so frequent and has big impact. Physical karmic sins like killing and adultery are big offenses, but people don't commit them that frequently. Mental karma is the most abundant, but a thought without action is much lighter in weight. Verbal karma is very abundant because we all speak a lot every day, and our words can cause a lot of pain and suffering for others, which is a real and heavy result. Thus, verbal sins can accumulate very quickly. That's why the ancients have advised that when it comes to cultivation, one of the first places to start is with verbal karma. Image Source: Unsplash   How can we know if we are accumulating merits or sins? Generally speaking, if life is smooth, then we have positive karma or fortune. If life isn't smooth, then we have negative karma.   Liao Fan's Four Lessons  gives some detailed guidance. The book states that if someone repents and corrects faults, they may have the following results: "What are the results of repentance? One may feel the mind becoming calm and at ease; Or feel that one suddenly has wisdom; Or feel clear-headed and smooth even amid messy and complex situations; Or encounter old enemies yet feel joy instead of anger; Or dream of spitting out dirty things; Or dream of past sages guiding and uplifting you; Or dream of soaring freely through the sky; Or dream of all kinds of colorful flags and ornately decorated canopies; These auspicious phenomena are all indications of a successful reform and the dissolving of past offenses."   (Original text: 或覺心神恬曠；或覺智慧頓開；或處冗沓而觸念皆通；或遇怨仇而回瞋作喜；或夢吐黑物；或夢往聖先賢，提攜接引；或夢飛步太虛；或夢幢幡寶蓋，種種勝事，皆過消罪滅之象也。)   As for accumulating sins, the book states: "On the other hand, for those whose bad deeds are deep and heavy, there are also signs: One feels their mind is dull and blocked, forgetting things immediately upon turning away; Or feels troubled and agitated for no apparent reason; Or feels ashamed and discouraged upon seeing virtuous people; Or feels displeased upon hearing proper teachings; Or when offering kindness to others, others respond with complaint and resentment; Or one has chaotic and messy dreams; Or even speaks recklessly and feels lost in life. These are all signs of accumulated sins. If even one of these appears, we must promptly rouse and reform ourselves. Don't delay."   (Original text: 然人之過惡深重者，亦有效驗：或心神昏塞，轉頭即忘；或無事而常煩惱；或見君子而赧然消沮；或聞正論而不樂；或施惠而人反怨；或夜夢顛倒，甚則妄言失志；皆作孽之相也，苟一類此，即須奮發，舍舊圖新，幸勿自誤。)   Conclusion If we want to accumulate fortune and blessings and prevent misfortune or unexpected disasters, it's very important to cultivate hidden goodness and guard against hidden sins.   When we do good and get praised a lot, then the good fortune from that act of goodness is spent. If we do good and people don't know about it or don't praise us publicly, then we can accumulate hidden merit by doing good without seeking praise. If people praise us, we remain humble and say we're not actually that good, but we will try our best to do better. As our hidden goodness accumulates, so too will our fortune. Image Source: Unsplash   On the other hand, if we commit sins and do immoral things in secret, even though we won't receive criticism and slander from people, eventually we will encounter strange misfortune and disasters. We may also start feeling troubled and dull, feel ashamed upon meeting virtuous people, have disordered dreams, or feel lost in life. If such signs of accumulated sins appear, it's important to promptly rouse and reform ourselves. As long as we are still alive, it's never too late to reform. Weekly Wisdom #390

I recently watched Encanto , and it was a very heartwarming and innovative film about family and belonging. It won the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film in 2021, and its soundtracks topped the US billboards. I would definitely recommend it for all audiences. Image Source   In this article, I will give a brief summary of the story (spoiler alert) and share my learnings and reflections.   Part 1: Summary   Alma and Pedro Madrigal were a happy couple living in Colombia with their recently born triplets, Julieta, Pepa, and Bruno. But everything changed one night when armed forces arrived and started raiding the village and setting fire to the houses. Everyone in the village fled for their lives.   While the soldiers were raiding the village, the villagers all fled into the mountains. Later, the soldiers chased after them to try to kill them. Seeing the soldiers getting closer, Pedro told Alma to run ahead with the children while he stayed behind to slow down the soldiers.   Alma saw Pedro being killed, and she burst into tears. At that moment, the candle she was carrying suddenly burst out magical power that sent the soldiers flying off their horses. At the same time, a magical house named Casita emerged from the ground. The soldiers then fled, and the villagers decided to resettle and create a new village around Casita.   The candle became a magical candle with a flame that never died, and Alma placed it in a high room in Casita for everyone to see. The candle symbolized the miracle that was given to the Madrigals.   Alma then raised her triplets by herself. When her children reached age 5, three magical doors appeared in Casita. When the children touched their respective door knob, they each gained a special "gift" or power, and a room was created just for them. Alma told her children to use their powers to serve the village and make the family proud.   Later on, Julieta and Pepa got married and had children, but Bruno disappeared because he was often shunned for predicting bad news (his power is foreseeing the future), which often ended up happening. Later, Alma's grandchildren also each received a door and a special power from Casita at age five. Every child except one: Mirabel, who is Julieta's youngest daughter. For some reason, when Mirabel touched the magical door handle during her gift awarding ceremony, the door disappeared.   Ten years later, Pepa's youngest child (Mirabel's cousin) Antonio reaches age 5, and he has his gift awarding ceremony. He was very nervous that he might not get a gift either like Mirabel. Not only him, but also Alma, Mirabel, and the whole family. In the end, he received the power to talk to animals, and the whole family was relieved. Mirabel, however, had mixed feelings of relief for Antonio but also agony for herself as still the only person without a gift.   While everyone was celebrating and dancing in Antonio's new room, which is a huge jungle, Mirabel returns to the main hall to cry. Suddenly, she starts seeing cracks forming everywhere in Casita. She runs back into Antonio's room to tell her family, but when they return to the main hall, the cracks are gone. Alma asserts to the villagers that everything is fine, and they continue the party.   Later that night, Mirabel overhears Alma worrying about the cracks happening again, so she knows it's a real and serious problem. Wanting to make her family proud and to prove her worth, she resolves to save Casita.   She consults some family members and eventually learns that her uncle Bruno had a vision about her in the past before disappearing from the family. However, nobody is allowed to talk about Bruno, so she then ventures into Bruno's room to learn more. In the room, there's a huge flight of stairs leading to a cave, where she finds broken crystal pieces. She collects the pieces and assembles them together, revealing an image of her and a broken Casita.   Later that night, Mirabel's eldest sister Isabella was supposed to receive a proposal from her fiancé Mariano. However, other family members found out about the vision, and everyone started freaking out. Casita then started cracking before Mariano proposed, and everyone in the family started losing control of their powers. As a result, Isabella felt that Mirabel ruined her proposal.   Some rats stole pieces of the vision and ran through a secret passage behind a portrait next to Bruno's room. Mirabel followed the rats and found Bruno, who told her that when he saw the vision of Mirabel and the broken Casita, he didn't want the family to know about it and shun her as a result, so he broke the vision into pieces and hid away within the walls of Casita. He didn't leave Casita because he still wanted to be close to his family.   Bruno also explained that the vision alternated between Mirabel destroying and saving Casita, so she might be the key to the family's future. After much persuasion from Mirabel, Bruno agrees to conjure the vision again so that they could look for clues about how to save Casita. During the vision, Mirabel sees herself hugging someone who seems to be Isabella (though it might actually be the younger version of Alma), leading her to believe that reconciling with Isabella would save Casita.   Mirabel has a strained relationship with Isabella because she feels Isabella is cocky, while Isabella feels Mirabel tries too hard and creates trouble for her in the process, not to mention Mirabel just ruined her marriage proposal.   When Mirabel goes into Isabella's room and tries to apologize, Isabella reveals that she's really pressured by the expectation to be Ms. Perfect all the time, that she wishes she could just be herself, that she actually doesn't want to marry Mariano, and that she was only doing it for the family.   While venting her emotions, Isabella accidentally makes a cactus appear instead of the usual roses and pretty flowers. She is shocked and pleased, and starts creating all sorts of strange and exotic plants all over the house and even the village (kind of like Elsa making the snow castle when she let it go...but I digress). Mirabel encourages her to be herself and let go of the pressure to be perfect and to please others. Isabella has a catharsis, and the two of them hug, and the cracks on Casita repair themselves. Alma, seeing the mess of exotic plants around Casita, arrives and starts scolding Mirabel. Mirabel said she is saving Casita, but Alma said the cracks started with Mirabel, and that Mirabel needs to stop hurting Casita out of jealousy for not receiving a power. Mirabel then refutes that it is Alma's unreasonably high expectations that is creating too much pressure on everyone, causing Casita to crack. As their argument reaches its peak, Casita starts to fall apart completely, and the Madrigals all lose their power.   Afterwards, Mirabel feels terrible and runs away. The family then searches for Mirabel for a long time. Eventually, Alma finds Mirabel crying by the river where Pedro died. She then tells Mirabel of her past, of how she met Pedro (the grandfather), how Pedro sacrificed himself for the family, and how Casita came to be.   Alma then realizes and admits that she became obsessed with preserving Casita and the powers that Casita gave the family to the point where she became blind to the feelings of her family members. Alma apologizes to Mirabel, saying "You never hurt our family Mirabel. We are broken because of me."   Mirabel then expresses her understanding towards Alma for all the hardship and loneliness she suffered and then thanks her, saying, "We are a family because of you. We were saved because of you. And nothing could ever be broken that we can't fix together." They then hug.   Afterwards, they return to the broken Casita, and everyone rebuilds the house together. The villagers also come to help, showing their support for the family despite them not having their powers anymore. Once the house was rebuilt, Mirabel puts on the doorknob. Afterwards, the magic returned, and Casita became alive again. At the end of the film, the family takes a family photo, this time with Alma, Mirabel, and Bruno at the center.   My Learnings and Reflections   1: Home is where love is. Casita is the magical home that the Madrigals live in. It symbolizes home. How was Casita formed? It was formed when Pedro sacrificed himself to save his wife and children. The love that Pedro had for them created magic that built Casita and repelled the soldiers. (This reminds me of Harry Potter, but I digress).   When did Casita crack? It would crack when anyone in the family felt like the family wasn't a source of love but rather a source of pain for them, or when conflict broke out. In the movie, when Mirabel felt agony for being the only one without a gift, Casita started cracking. Perhaps if the family had given Mirabel more love and acceptance, she wouldn't have felt agony, and Casita wouldn't have cracked. (Side note: I personally think the most admirable character is Bruno. He sacrificed himself and went into hiding because he didn't want the family to shun Mirabel. He also chose to stay near the family despite going into hiding, which reflects that he holds no resentment towards his family despite being wrongfully accused of bringing misfortune. Later when Casita crumbled, he rushed to take the blame in place of Mirabel. He is a truly noble character!)   That night, Mirabel overheard Alma worrying about how Casita is cracking again, which means that Casita has cracked in the past too, before Mirabel was born. When was this? My guess is when the family shunned Bruno for predicting misfortune.   Bruno never tried to predict misfortune. His power allowed him to see the future, and the future just happened to be of misfortune. If the family had changed their perspective to be thankful to Bruno for warning them about coming misfortune so that they could prepare for it in advance, then Bruno wouldn't have felt hurt or wrongfully treated, and Casita might not have cracked.   Another time was the night when the family members found out about the vision of Mirabel and the broken Casita. Everyone became very anxious and scared. On the surface, it seems very reasonable to be worried about losing their home and powers. But my personal feeling is that their anxiety is not just about the house and their powers. It's about their sense of self-worth and fear of letting down their helicopter grandmother.   The matriarch of the house is Alma, and Alma always pressured them to make the family proud by using their powers to serve the village. What started out as a good intention became excessive. It got to the point where the children felt like their worth is in their powers, and that if they didn't have their powers, or if they didn't make the villagers happy, they would be a failure. I think this is the deeper source of anxiety and pain that the children felt, and that's why Casita cracked. If the family members felt that Alma and the family would always love each other regardless of their powers or what they did, then perhaps Casita wouldn't have cracked.   On that same night, Isabella was supposed to get engaged to Mariano. However, Isabella didn't want to get married to him. She was only doing it for the family. In her heart, she felt family was a source of pressure for her rather than a source of love, understanding, and acceptance.   Getting married is one of the biggest matters in a person's life, so forcing yourself to get married to someone you don't want to marry must have been quite agonizing for Isabella. Moreover, Isabella's cousin Dolores actually has a crush on Mariano, so seeing him getting arranged to marry Isabella would hurt Dolores' heart too. No wonder Casita cracked that night.   Later on, when Mirabel and Isabella reconciled, and Isabella felt more free to be herself, the cracks in Casita healed. But when Alma came and started blaming Mirabel, and then Mirabel started blaming Alma back, Casita finally broke down completely.   After Alma and Mirabel reconciled, Alma also apologized to the whole family, and Bruno and Mirabel were once again loved by the family. The family rebuilt their house, and in the process, everyone was allowed to just be themselves, and they felt loved for who they were. Finally, the magic returned, signifying that real family love has returned.   For us, we can reflect on our own homes and families. What's our home atmosphere like? If it's not ideal, we shouldn't blame others or demand them to change. That would be copying Alma, which only creates more conflict. We should lead by example and show more love and understanding towards our family members, just like what Mirabel did. A positive cycle starts with ourselves.   2: What is real love? Given that home is where love is, this begs the question, what is real "love"?   Firstly, real love is pure love, without any negative energy mixed in. Before, Alma cared too much about the family's reputation in the eyes of the villagers, which is why she unconsciously gave the children a lot of pressure to be of service and make the family proud. This wasn't coming from a heart of pure love. There was energy of ego and fear mixed in, which is why the children felt pressured.   Second, real love is unconditional love, loving others for all that they are, imperfections included, mistakes allowed. When Mirabel felt down after Antonio's gift-awarding ceremony, her mother told her, "I wish you could see yourself the way I do. You're perfect just like this. You're just as special as anyone else in the family."    This is unconditional love, and I think it's thanks to Mirabel's mother that Mirabel has a healthy personality instead of being depressed with low self-esteem.   When Alma realized her fault and apologized to the family, she said, "The miracle is not some magic that you've got. The miracle is you. All of you." This reflects the unconditional love that arose in Alma's heart.   Third, real love is also about making the other person feel comfortable and happy. If we make others unhappy or pressured in the name of "love", then it's not real love. It's called "loving you without your input", which is just another way of saying "being a control freak".   Alma realized she had this problem when she said to Mirabel, "I was given a miracle. A second chance. And I was so afraid to lose it that I lost sight of who our miracle was for. And I am so sorry."   Fourth, real love is giving others our understanding. After Alma apologized, Mirabel said, "You lost your home. Lost everything. You suffered so much all alone so it would never happen again. We were saved because of you. We were given a miracle because of you. We are a family because of you. And nothing could ever be broken that we can't fix together."   Although Alma gave everyone a lot of pressure, she probably didn't realize it. She had too much pressure and worry in her own heart, so she didn't even notice it leaking out onto her family members. When Mirabel saw the burden that Alma carried, she stopped blaming her grandma and instead thanked her. Alma then felt understood and was able to let go of that burden.   We can all reflect on ourselves. If we are parents, do our children feel comfortable and happy around us, willing to share anything that's on their mind with us? Or do they seem to put up walls when near us? If so, then we might be overly concerned with their results (e.g.,  grades,  salary, marriage) rather than their feelings.   If we are children with overly anxious parents, do we understand where their pressure comes from? Do we feel grateful for all that they've done for us, for the burden they've carried for us? Do we let our parents feel heard and understood? If so, they might be able to let go of that inner burden, and we could reconcile with them just like Mirabel and Alma.   If we are leaders of a team, we can also reflect. A team or organization is like a family. Many businesses put the customer first, but actually, there's someone more important than the customer. The employee. Without employees, who would serve the customer? If we want the customer to be happy, then the employee needs to be happy first.   No matter who we are, we can reflect on whether we make others feel happy or unhappy. Everyone is in need of more love and care these days (perhaps ourselves included). The more we give to others, the more others will give to give around, and the more loving and caring the world will become. As Gandhi said, "Be the change you wish to see in the world."   Some people might ask, "What if they have problems? Do I just accept them and let them be? Is that real love?"   Accepting them the way they are now is not in conflict with wanting them to become better. Both are real love. Letting them be because we don't want to go through the trouble of advising them and dealing with their bad emotions is not real love. That's selfishness because we only care about our own convenience. Blaming and scolding them because we are upset at them is also not real love. That's just anger.   Everyone has faults. No one is perfect. If we have a fault, wouldn't we wish others would advise us respectfully and patiently? If we do that for others, then that's true love. We aren't blaming them. We're doing it because we want them to avoid suffering and to have a better future.   If they respond badly, then we reflect on ourselves. Maybe we didn't set the stage well. Or it wasn't a good time. Or they were just in a bad mood, and we should try again when they're in a better mood. Besides, it's not like we change after people tell us our problem one time. We probably need to be patient and advise over a long-period of time. Being willing to patiently advise is true love.   3: With great power comes great responsibility. But does great responsibility come with great stress?   In the movie, Luisa, the girl with super strength, confessed that although she seems super strong on the surface, she feels a crushing weight inside. This includes the weight of the family's expectations for her, as well as the feeling that she would be worthless if she wasn't of service. As a result, she is always helping others with her super strength all day, and she really wishes she could just relax sometimes.   Isabella, the girl who can grow flowers at will, also confesses that she feels overly pressured by the need to be Ms. Perfect all the time. She says, "So much hides behind my smile. What could I do if I could just grew what I was feeling in the moment? What could I do if I just knew it didn't need to be perfect?"   It makes me think, with great power comes great responsibility, but does great stress have to come with great responsibility?   I think it's normal to feel some stress with responsibility. It's a sign that we care. But we shouldn't let that stress get excessive. We have the power to manage that stress.   First, I would evaluate myself on my effort, not results. If I had superpowers that could help others, I wouldn't judge myself based on how many people I helped today or how many good deeds I did today. These are not in my control. Instead, I would just ask myself, did I do my best to help people today? Or did I ignore others in need when I could've helped? As long as I have a clear conscience, I'm happy.   Second, I would set reasonable expectations and boundaries. Humans are not machines that can work 24/7. We need downtime, and we need to communicate with others and manage their expectations. If I were in Luisa and Isabella's shoes, I might communicate that there are certain times of day where I need to rest too. This is to ensure that I can continue serving everyone with full energy long-term. This isn't selfishness, it's carefulness. It's also setting a good example for others.   Third, I would hone my intentions. Helping others is a joyful thing. I should be doing it because I am happy when others are happy. I shouldn't be doing it because I feel forced to do it or because I want others to like me. If I feel that helping others has become a burden, then I need to meditate on my intentions and adjust them accordingly.   4: Why didn't Mirabel get a gift? One question that the movie doesn't seem to give a clear answer to is why Mirabel didn't get a gift or power from Casita. I guess it's up to us viewers to ponder.   My thought is that Mirabel was a test for the family to bring out true love for each other. It's precisely because she doesn't have powers that if Alma and the family can love her just like any other member of the family, then the family has true love. This is the test that Alma and the family needed to pass in order for the family to thrive long-term.   Relating back to ourselves, is there someone or something that feels like a thorn in the side for us? Perhaps that person or thing was given to us by life to help us overcome blame and judgment, and instead grow our love and wisdom.   Another perspective is that people's abilities (or powers) aren't most important. What's most important is your character and virtues. Mirabel isn't the hero because she has the strongest super power. In fact, she has no power at all. Mirabel is the hero because she took initiative to identify a problem, solve it, persevere, and unite everyone together. These are things any of us can do in our own lives to be our own heroes. In fact, they are things we all need to do to have a happy life.   Conclusion I really enjoyed Encanto  for its innovative story showcasing very relatable family dynamics with lots of food for thought. These are just my learnings and reflections, and I'm sure there are many others. If you have any other life lessons you took away from the film, I'd love to hear about them. Weekly Wisdom #389

The Daily Stoic  is a book with 366 quotes from Stoic philosophers on how to live a good life. I had previously read this a couple years ago and benefited a lot from it, and I've decided to read it again this year. Every day, I read the quote, the explanation, and then journal my thoughts and reflections. At the end of each month, I review my reflections and summarize the month.   March's topic is awareness, and this article will summarize my March reflections. What do we need to have awareness about? Many things. In my reading, I noticed four broad categories: Awareness of our ruling reason Awareness of cultivation Awareness of our influences Awareness of other people's thinking and feelings Image Source: GPT   1: Awareness of Our Ruling Reason March 1: "An important place to begin in philosophy is this: a clear perception of one's own ruling principle." —Epictetus   When it comes to cultivation, one of the first things we need to do is to get clear on what the stoics call our ruling reason, which I think of as our moral compass. This involves establishing clear standards of what's good versus bad, correct versus incorrect, proper versus improper, and beneficial versus harmful. If we don't have a compass, or our compass is wrong, then we will proceed in the wrong direction. That would be a tragedy.   Only when we have a clear moral compass can we begin cultivation; hence why Epictetus said this is the place to begin in philosophy. When we notice that our thoughts, speech, and actions are misaligned with our moral compass, we can then realign ourselves. Frequently self-reflection and self-inspection are key to this practice.   March 17: "You are not your body and hair-style, but your capacity for choosing well. If your choices are beautiful, so too will you be." —Epictetus   March 26: "How does your ruling reason manage itself? For in that is the key to everything. Whatever else remains, be it in the power of your choice or not, is but a corpse and smoke." —Marcus Aurelius   Epictetus emphasized that the quality of our lives depends on the quality of our choices . Our choices are determined by our ruling reason; hence why Marcus Aurelius emphasized that our ruling reason is key to everything. Our moral compass determines the way we think, which determines the way we act, which determines our life and results. It is the root and core of cultivation. Everything else is branches and leaves. A wise person cultivates from the roots, not from the branches. Image Source: Unsplash   So how do we establish an effective moral compass? One important way is to study the teachings of ancient philosophers that have been passed down for thousands of years. Time eliminates the teachings that are incorrect or not useful, leaving only what's eternally useful and relevant.   To give some examples, Stoicism teaches us: Focus on what's in our control. Be strict with yourself and tolerant towards others. The purpose of life is to cultivate our moral character and serve the common good. Wherever there is another person, there is an opportunity for kindness. The obstacle is the way. Amor Fati: Love everything that happens because anything can be good and useful. Memento Mori: Life could end at any time. Cherish time and don't waste life.   These are all effective and proper standards for our moral compass.   My Practice: I read the teachings of ancient philosophers every day to strengthen and develop my ruling reason. I also do daily self-reflection to see if my thoughts, speech, and actions aligned with my ruling reason. Third, I meditate every day to cultivate serenity. Whenever I have a big decision and feel indecisive, I don't rush. I meditate on the decision and make it from a calm and rational state of mind.   2: Awareness of Cultivation   March 24:   "Be aware of that today when you're going to work, going on a date, deciding whom to vote for, calling your parents in the evening, waving to your neighbor as you walk to your door, tipping the delivery man, saying goodnight to someone you love. All of that is philosophy." —Ryan Holiday   March 31: "You must put in place training and habits now to replace ignorance and ill discipline. Only then will you begin to behave and act differently. Only then will you stop seeking the impossible, the shortsighted, and the unnecessary." —Ryan Holiday   One major difference between cultivators and common people is that cultivators have an awareness of cultivation and are disciplined about it, while common people have ignorance and ill discipline, so they just get dragged along by their emotions and habits.   In daily matters, cultivators discipline themselves to focus on what's in their control, on the long-term, and on what's important and necessary. Common people often try to control externals (which is impossible), think shortsighted, and waste time on unimportant things. These are all criteria with which we can judge if we are true cultivators.   March 18: "Today I escaped from the crush of circumstances, or better put, I threw them out, for the crush wasn't from outside me but in my own assumptions." —Marcus Aurelius   March 8: "If a person gave away your body to some passerby, you'd be furious. Yet you hand over your mind to anyone who comes along, so they may abuse you, leaving it disturbed and troubled—have you no shame in that?" —Epictetus   The core of stoic cultivation is to focus on what's in our control, which is our own thoughts, feelings, and actions. We have to recognize that external circumstances cannot force us to feel anything. Our feelings are determined by ourselves, by our assumptions and beliefs, by our ruling reason. Many people are unaware of this fact, and they blame other people and circumstances for their feelings. As Epictetus said, that's like handing over their most precious thing, their mind, over to others and inviting abuse.   What happens to us is outside our control. But how we respond is completely in our control, and it reflects our cultivation and determines our future. Once we stop blaming the outside for our feelings and start cultivating our own thoughts, then we are attending to the roots rather than the branches.   March 2: "It is a great failing to see yourself as more than you are. It is equally damaging to value yourself at less than your true worth." —Johann Wolfgang von Goethe   Do you understand yourself deeply? Can you clearly state your strengths and weaknesses? Do you know how you are honing your strengths and mending your weaknesses? In order to cultivate ourselves, we need to be clear on both our strengths and weaknesses. We know our strengths so that we can hone them to better serve the common good. This also gives us a sense of purpose and value. We know our weaknesses so that we can remedy them and prevent creating trouble for ourselves and others. This also gives us a sense of humility and prevents arrogance and complacency.   Image Source: Unsplash   How can we better understand ourselves? There are many ways. We could ask the people close to us what they think our strengths and weaknesses are. We could take personality tests. We could keep a diary.   March 14: "Zeno would also say that nothing is more hostile to a firm grasp on knowledge than self-deception." —Diogenes Laertius   My interpretation here is that "knowledge" refers to philosophical learning and cultivation. There is nothing more hostile to this than self-deception. Why? Because if a person deceives oneself, then self-cultivation is out of the question.   For example, if someone tells us, "You need to control your temper," and we immediately respond, "No I don't," or "My temper is much better than most people's," or "I've already improved a lot compared to before," or anything other than "thank you for your advice", then we are essentially denying their criticism. But they wouldn't have that criticism towards us for no reason. We really need to reflect, are we deceiving ourselves because our ego doesn't want to admit that we have a problem?   To give another example, perhaps deep down, we know we are a bit lazy and wasting time on unimportant things, but we can't overcome those temptations, and then we make excuses like, "It's just a little bit," or "It's no big deal," or "Other people do it too," or "I just forgot. I'll remember next time," then how would we ever muster the courage and motivation to change?   March 20: "I may wish to be free from torture, but if the time comes for me to endure it, I'll wish to bear it courageously with bravery and honor. Wouldn't I prefer not to fall into war? But if war does befall me, I'll wish to carry nobly the wounds, starvation, and other necessities of war. Neither am I so crazy as to desire illness, but if I must suffer illness, I'll wish to do nothing rash or dishonorable. The point is not to wish for these adversities, but for the virtue that makes adversities bearable." —Seneca    This is one of the most memorable quotes for me from the whole book. Most people wouldn't wish for great adversity to befall them, but the fact of the matter is, we cannot control whether or not adversity will knock on our door. In fact, if we observe around us, pretty much everyone faces adversity. Given this fact, rather than hoping adversity spares us, we really should focus on cultivating the virtues necessary to not only bear adversity but even thrive from them.   What kind of virtues are necessary? Seneca mentioned a few, including courage, honor, and rationality. The book also mentions other virtues such as endurance, patience, wisdom, compassion, humility, discipline, and serenity.   March 21: "People seek retreats for themselves in the country, by the sea, or in the mountains. You are very much in the habit of yearning for those same things. But this is entirely the trait of a base person, when you can, at any moment, find such a retreat in yourself. For nowhere can you find a more peaceful and less busy retreat than in your own soul—especially if on close inspection it is filled with ease, which I say is nothing more than being well-ordered. Treat yourself often to this retreat and be renewed." —Marcus Aurelius   Again, circumstances cannot dictate how we feel. We dictate how we feel. When we are aware of this power, we can access a serene retreat within ourselves. For example, we can meditate to calm our minds, or read classics to bring out proper thinking, or simply get a good night's sleep at home. Philosophers often access these inner retreats, while base people (of low virtues) only seek external retreats. Image Source: Unsplash Just to be clear, external retreats are certainly helpful, and philosophers value them. Just don't think that they are absolutely necessary for a peaceful mind. After all, most people cannot spend all day every day relaxing in nature. We have to work and earn a living. We have to handle relationships in daily life. Thus, it's best for us to be able to find peace and tranquility in our own mind regardless of our outer environment.   My Practice: I keep a merit fault journal where I record the daily matters that happen every day and how I cultivated virtues through them, as well as mistakes to improve. To understand myself better, I took many personality tests, such as the 16 Personalities , Four Tendencies , and DISC . These personality tests explained my strengths, weaknesses, values, and way of thinking. While these tests may not always seem 100% accurate, they are still great references for better self-understanding and for cultivation goals.   In terms of guarding against self-deception and dampening the ego, I've been training myself to accept criticism without explaining or arguing. I'm still not great at it even after years of practice, but I'm better than before. Even better would be proactively asking for criticism, which I can do a better job at.   In terms of enduring adversity, I've reflected on the triggers that cause me to get angry or upset, and I review the six ways of endurance  every morning to help me prepare for challenges in advance. I also do short meditation sessions every morning and evening to maintain a serene state of mind throughout the day. However, my mind is still usually quite agitated, and I should meditate longer.   3: Awareness of Our Influences March 9: "You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with." —Jim Rohn   "Consciously consider whom you allow into your life—not like some snobby elitist but like someone who is trying to cultivate the best life possible." —Ryan Holiday Image Source   We all get influenced by the people and environment around us. The question is, are we aware of this influence? Are these influences good or bad? Have we consciously chosen what influences we want in our lives, whether they be friends, colleagues, or media? This is one of the most important and high-yielding decisions we can make in life.   March 10: "Seneca tells us that we should each have our own Cato—a great and noble person we can allow into our minds and use to guide our actions, even when they're not actually present." —Ryan Holiday   Examining whether or not our thoughts and actions align with virtues is the essence of cultivation. Having a role model whom we try to emulate boosts our cultivation. For example, when we encounter troubles in life, we could think, "What would Seneca do here? What would Marcus Aurelius think here?" This helps us to jump out of our habitual way of thinking and instead use stoic thinking.   Of course, the prerequisite is that you actually have a role model whom you admire, understand, and want to emulate. That requires us to study and learn about virtuous people, which can be from the past or present or both. The more we admire our role model, the stronger their empowerment towards us.   March 29: "If you should ever turn your will to things outside your control in order to impress someone, be sure that you have wrecked your whole purpose in life. Be content, then, to be a philosopher in all that you do, and if you wish also to be seen as one, show yourself first that you are and you will succeed." —Epictetus   "We buy things we don't need, to impress people we don't like." —Fight Club   As social creatures, we all care about what others think of us. In proper amounts, this is good because we want to be a positive influence towards others; we don't want to create unhappiness or trouble for others. But in excess, this becomes harmful. We become irrational and do things we don't want to do to impress people that we don't need to impress.   Whose opinions should we actually care about? One person is ourselves. As Epictetus said, show yourself first that you are a true philosopher, someone who is virtuous and sets a good example with no regrets. True self-esteem doesn’t come from external validation, it comes from internal validation. Image Source: GPT   As for common people whose ruling reason has problems, we harmonize with them, but we don't necessarily seek their approval. Instead, we should care about the opinions of wise people who truly want the best for us. Think about how the stoic philosophers would behave in your situation and how they would advise you. Their advice would definitely be aligned with our innate conscience. When our conscience is at ease, we will gain peace. When our conscience is uneasy, we will feel a sense of guilt and restlessness deep down, causing our minds to be agitated all the time.   One of Confucius's most memorable quotes for me is, "To not be upset when others don't understand, is this not the mark of an exemplary person?"   What Confucius calls an exemplary person is what the stoics call a philosopher. Having people not understand us and misunderstand us is a guarantee in life. Base people get upset about it. Cultivators use it as an opportunity to improve their virtues, whether that be patience, tolerance, compassion, humility, wisdom, or stability.   My Practice: I have consciously selected who I spend time with and what content I put into my mind. I have also studied many past sages and philosophers, and I view them as my "inner board of directors" who help me make decisions. Since I read or listen to their teachings every day, it helps me to keep their teachings at the forefront of my mind.   If I had to pick who my Cato is, it would probably be Venerable Jing Kong. I listen to his lectures, and there is a book titled The Role Modeling of the Venerable Old Master , and this book has many stories of the master from his daily life. He only passed away recently, so he lived in the same time era as present people, making it easier for us to relate. I often listen to this book on repeat while doing chores or driving, so his stories and role modeling can more easily surface in my mind throughout daily life.   As for not caring too much about what common people think, I think I am OK on this front. But I still need to improve on not getting upset when people misunderstand me or falsely accuse me. I also need to have a stronger sense of righteousness to say what needs to be said for the greater good, even if it means upsetting some people in the short-run.   5: Awareness of Other People's Thinking and Feelings   March 12: "Whenever someone has done wrong by you, immediately consider what notion of good or evil they had in doing it. For when you see that, you'll feel compassion, instead of astonishment or rage. For you may yourself have the same notions of good and evil, or similar ones, in which case you'll make an allowance for what they've done. But if you no longer hold the same notions, you'll be more readily gracious for their error." —Marcus Aurelius    "Nobody thinks they're wrong, even when they are. They think they're right, they're just mistaken. Otherwise, they wouldn't think it anymore!" —Ryan Holiday   "How much more tolerant and understanding would you be today if you could see the actions of other people as attempts to do the right thing?" —Ryan Holiday   Philosophy and cultivation is not just for ourselves. It's for our relationships with the people around us. Thus, a core part of cultivation is compassion, empathy, and harmony towards others. When we get upset at others, it's because we think "they shouldn't do that." When we think like this, we are only thinking from our perspective, not from theirs. Image Source   When people do something "wrong" or "bad", there are two likely possibilities. First, they think it's right or OK to do, so they do it. In that case, if we want to calm down, we need to try to understand their perspective, not force our standards onto them. When we understand them, we'll think "Oh I get it now!" or "No wonder you would do that." If we don't have these thoughts yet, then we should probably spend some more effort to understand them. Another possibility is that they know it's not right or not good, but they can't control their impulses and bad habits. They are suffering victims of their own bad habits, and they probably feel bad about it. We've all been there too. How would we like to be treated in such a situation? We probably wish to receive more sympathy and understanding rather than criticism and blame. In this way, we would feel motivated to improve rather than dejected and upset.   March 30: "Hurry to your own ruling reason, to the reason of the Whole, and to your neighbor's. To your own mind to make it just; to the mind of the Whole to remember your place in it; and to your neighbor's mind to learn whether it's ignorant or of sound knowledge—while recognizing it's like yours." —Marcus Aurelius   Marcus Aurelius talked about three matters. First, we need to make sure our ruling reason is just, proper, correct, and effective. As mentioned before, we develop such a ruling reason by studying the teachings of past philosophers and sages that have been passed down for thousands of years.   Second, we need to understand the ruling reason of the Whole, which is how most people think. That requires us to listen and observe more in our daily social interactions. When we do this, we'll notice that most people don't study philosophy, so their ideas of right and wrong, good and bad, proper and improper may not be correct or effective. In spite of this, as cultivators, we should harmonize with them, not create conflict with them. After all, we all are one big family, and only when the whole group is happy can the individuals within the group remain happy.   Third, we need to understand the ruling reason of our neighbor, which refers to the other person in question. The ruling principle of the Whole is the common way of thinking among the general public, but each person still has their individual differences. To harmonize with each person, we have to understand and accept each person's differences. After all, a garden with just one type of flower would hardly be a garden. Differences in harmony is what makes a beautiful world. Image Source: Unsplash   My Practice: My personality is highly rational, so I often have conflict with people who are overly emotional and cannot justify themselves rationally. This is something I've been working on for many years now, and I'm slowly getting better at being more sensitive and caring towards people's feelings instead of always focusing on matters or logic. All of my reflections written in this section pertain to "enduring through compassion", which is one of the six methods of endurance that I mentioned before.   Conclusion March was all about awareness: awareness of our ruling reason, awareness of cultivation, awareness of our influences, and awareness of other people's thinking and feelings.   As philosophers and cultivators, we need to establish our ruling reason to have correct standards of right versus wrong, good versus bad, proper versus improper, and beneficial versus harmful. We should also find role models of such standards to frequently consult and compare ourselves to. All of this requires us to study and reflect over a long period of time.   As for our influences, we should consciously choose which people we spend time with, what content we allow into our minds, and in what amount. We harmonize with the common people but only seek approval from ourselves and from the wise. When we have conflict, we can always try to understand them better, which will help us to calm down and harmonize with them. Weekly Wisdom #388

In the first article  of this karma series, we looked at five basic rules of karma. In the second article , we looked at two stories to go into more depth on how karma requires time. This article will use four stories to delve deeper into how karma has size and heaviness, as well as the distinction between shared and individual karma.   Story 1: Lin Ji's Severe Negligence In the Song Dynasty (960–1279) , there was a government official named Lin Ji 林機. His job was to inspect and approve of request letters sent to the emperor. One time, the province of Sichuan experienced a famine, and the province sent a letter requesting the emperor to send one hundred thousand dans of grain (one dan is equal to one hundred liters) to save the citizens from starvation.   The emperor approved this request, but Lin Ji thought this amount was too much, and that the road to Sichuan was too difficult to travel, so he returned the letter and asked them to recalculate how much grain they really need, then the emperor can decided whether or not to approve the request.   Later, when the emperor heard about this, he told one of his chancellors, "The road to Sichuan province is extremely long. If we wait until the letter is delivered and for them to recalculate, I'm afraid by then too many people will have starved to death. If we must recalculate, at the very least, we should send half the amount over first."   Soon after, Lin Ji died. Furthermore, his two sons died. In ancient China, families cared a lot about having a son as a successor to the family name. Since Lin Ji's family had no more sons, they adopted a son over from a relative's family, but that son soon died too. Image Source: GPT   ( Story Source )   Commentary 1 Karma has size and heaviness. Big and heavy karma will usually fruit faster, as we saw in the story with Lin Ji. From the surface, it seems like Lin Ji didn't do anything major. It's not like he got a weapon and personally slaughtered thousands of people.   However, his actions impacted hundreds of thousands of people. He only considered not wasting resources, and he either neglected or didn't care for the fact that these disaster victims might starve to death because of his decision. If it was neglect (unintentional), that's already a heavy enough sin to cause a shortened life. If it was intentional lack of care for disaster victims' lives, then that's an even heavier sin, leading to even swifter death and an even more painful next-life retribution.   Not only did Lin Ji die early, his sons and even adopted son died early too. From Lin Ji's case, we can see the principle of collective karma. Individuals have their own individual karma. At the same time, families, groups, cities, countries, even the whole world has their collective karma. Lin Ji was the head of his family, so when he committed a grave sin, his whole family also suffered. It's analogous to if our country's leader starts a war with another country, all the citizens get affected. Thus, we need to cultivate good karma not just for ourselves, but also for our loved ones.   But just to be clear, karma is always fair, as in we only receive the results from our own karma. The reason Lin Ji's sons were born into Lin Ji's family is because of their strong karmic affinity, and the reason they died after Lin Ji's sin is because they must have committed similar sins in their past lives, so their death is still a result of their past actions. If they did not commit the sin in the past, then even if Lin Ji committed a grave sin, they would not die, and they probably wouldn't have been born into Lin Ji's family.   Story 2: Wei Zongda's Great Intention During the time of Emperor Huizong of Song (1082–1135), there was a man named Wei Zhongda 衛仲達, who held a position in the imperial academy (a very prestigious position at the time). One night, his spirit was brought to a court in the spirit world. The court judge ordered the clerks to present the records of Wei's good and bad deeds for judgment.   When these records were brought forth, Wei was astounded to see that his bad records filled the entire court, while the record of good deeds consisted of just a single scroll as thin as a chopstick.   The judge then ordered for the records to be weighed on a scale. Surprisingly, the pile of bad records that filled the court was lighter than the thin scroll of good deeds.   Wei said, "I am not even forty years old yet, how could I have accumulated so many bad deeds?"   The judge said, "When you give rise to a single thought that is improper, it is considered a bad offense there and then. It does not have to be carried out through action to be counted as a wrongdoing."   Wei then asked what was recorded in the single scroll of good deeds.   The judge replied, "Once, the imperial court planned to repair a great stone bridge at the Three Mountains. You submitted a proposal to advise against it. This scroll is a copy of your proposal."   Wei said, "Although I did make the proposal, but the imperial court did not listen and began the project anyway. My proposal had no effect on the matter. How could it bear so much weight?"   The judge replied, "Although the imperial court did not accept your proposal, your intention was for the wellness of tens and thousands of people, to prevent them from unnecessary toil and hardship. Such an intention is truly great. If the imperial court had listened to you, then your good karma would have been even greater." Image Source: GPT   (Story Source: Liao Fan's Four Lessons )   Commentary 2 Wei Zhongda's case is kind of opposite to Lin Ji's case. Lin Ji lacked consideration for the masses, while Wei Zhongda possessed consideration for the masses. Although Wei had many, many bad deeds recorded, each of these bad deeds were small and light; perhaps most were just thoughts related to minor matters, and few were actions that resulted in great harm to many people. However, his intention of goodness for the masses was very big and heavy, and the strength of that good karma was able to outweigh all his bad karma.   From the two stories so far, we see that it's very important to consider the impact of our actions on the broader group, whether that be our family, employer, community, society, country, or world. The greater our breadth of mind and size of heart, the greater our fortune (good karma).   Story 3: A Sincere Donation Once, there was a poor lady who went to visit a temple and wished to make a donation. However, she was so poor that he only had two cents, which she donated. To her surprise, the temple's abbot himself came forth to help her perform repentance rites and dedicate her merits.   Later, the same lady was chosen to enter the imperial palace and become a concubine to the emperor. Clad in her riches, the lady once again went to the temple to donate, this time bringing thousands of gold pieces to give. To her dismay, the abbot only sent his disciple to help her dedicate her merits.   She then asked, "In the past, I only gave two cents, and the abbot personally performed repentance for me. Today, I have donated thousands of gold pieces, yet the abbot does not personally help me dedicate the merits. Why is this so?"   The abbot replied, "Although your previous offering was small, your intention was extremely sincere. If I had not personally performed repentance for you, it would not have been enough to repay your kindness and sincerity. Today, although your offering is large, your intention is not as sincere as before. Thus, having my disciple perform the rites is sufficient." Image Source: GPT (Story Source: Liao Fan's Four Lessons ) Commentary 3 The previous stories emphasized the breadth of our mind and the size of our heart. This story emphasizes the sincerity of our intentions. One way sincerity can be measured is by the percentage of our ability that we are willing to spend.   At the beginning, the lady only had two cents, and she gave it all to the temple. That could be considered 100% sincerity. This is rather simplified though, as we should add in other factors like the fact that she was very respectful, she did not seek for anything in return, nor did she regret her decision. It was a donation out of pure sincerity and respect.   We can deduce that this act not only planted a great seed of fortune for the future, it also served as an assisting condition for her past seeds of fortune to fruit faster. Thus, she was able to become a concubine to the emperor. The thing is, if she was destined for that in this life, she would obtain it eventually. But doing good deeds now helps past good karmic seeds fruit faster.   The second time, she brought thousands of gold pieces, and the abbot said she was not as sincere. We can speculate that as a concubine in the imperial palace, she has access to a lot more wealth than just a thousand gold pieces, so her sincerity is less than 100%. Moreover, she probably had some ego and arrogance, with thoughts like, "I am doing a great good deed. The temple should be grateful to me. The abbot should personally perform my repentance and help me more in the future." That's why she was surprised when the abbot didn't do her repentance rites. All of these factors reduced the sincerity of her intentions, which reduced the size of her good karma.   For us, when we do good deeds, it's important for us to cultivate the sincerity of our intentions. Are we giving it our best? Are we seeking anything in return? Are we respectful and humble in helping others?   Story 4: Old Lin's Accumulation of Goodness In Putian county of Fujian province, there was a family surnamed Lin. In earlier generations, there was an old grandma who loved helping others. She often made rice balls and gave them to the poor and needy. No matter who asked or how many they asked for, she always gave to them without the slightest weariness.   There was a Daoist transcendent who came every morning to ask for six or seven rice balls (quite a lot!). The old grandma always granted his request and never expressed any displeasure. It went on like this for three years.   The Daoist transcendent realized the deep sincerity of this old woman's kindness and said, "I have eaten your rice balls for three years with nothing to show my gratitude in return. Perhaps I can help you in this way: On the land behind your house is a good place where you can build the ancestral grave. If you are placed there in the future, the number of your descendants who will have imperial positions will be equivalent to the number of sesame seeds in a pound of sesame seeds."   When the old lady passed away, the Lin family followed the Daoist transcendent's suggestion. In the first generation following, nine people passed the imperial exams. Generation after generation, many people from the Lin family continued to pass the imperial exams. Eventually, there was a saying in Fujian, "If there is no one from the Lin family, the exam scores will not be announced."  Image Source: GPT (Story Source: Liao Fan's Four Lessons )   Commentary 4 The first two stories focused on the impact of our actions as well as the breadth of our intentions as two key factors to the magnitude of our karma. The third story showed the importance of sincerity to the size of our karma. This final story shows that we can accumulate small karma into big karma. Old Lin simply donated rice balls to the poor and needy. Donating food is something any of us can do.   However, she persisted in this small and simple good deed for many years, and it eventually became big karma. To give an analogy, if we just put a few coins into a jar every day, it seems like very little each day. However, as the days accumulate into months and years, eventually we will have a mountain of coins.   Moreover, as the Daoist transcendent mentioned, the sincerity of our good intention is key to the size and heaviness of our karma. The reason the lady was able to persist for so many years without any sign of weariness, impatience, or displeasure is because she was totally sincere. She didn't want any reward in return for her good deeds. She wasn't seeking a good reputation or expecting the people she helped to return the favor. She did it purely out of kindness and sincerity. Wei Zhongda was the same when he submitted that proposal. Thus, a sincere good intention is also big and heavy karma.   The story didn't talk much about the fortune she received in her life, but we can speculate that she was a kind person who was happy every day. After all, helping others is joyful, and being happy every day is itself a great fortune. Think of how many people out there who have wealth and prestige, but aren't happy like this old lady. Moreover, I imagine she had good health and a harmonious family, all of which are fortune. Her next life would definitely be much better than this one too.   The Book of Changes says, "Families who accumulate goodness will have an excess of fortune (to pass onto future generations)."   This is also related to the concept of shared karma versus individual karma. Because that old lady accumulated so much good karma, she would attract people who have also accumulated a lot of good karma into her family as descendants.   Moreover, her descendants attaining imperial positions (wealth and prestige) is considered her "excess fortune" that she "passed onto future generations". Just imagine the size of her individual fortune that she will enjoy herself in her next life!   Conclusion The size of our karma is dependent on the size of our heart and breadth of mind, as well as the number of people we influence. The larger our intention, the greater the good karma cultivated. The more people our actions benefit, the greater the good karma cultivated.   The size of our karma is also dependent on the sincerity of our intentions. If we give our full ability and effort, without wanting anything in return, without arrogance, and without regret, then such an intention is extremely sincere. If we instead only give partial effort, or we want something in return, or we are arrogant in the process, or we regret it later, then our sincerity will lose points. Moreover, big karma can be accumulated from small daily acts. Being able to persevere is also a sign of sincerity. Weekly Wisdom #386

The Daily Stoic  is a book with 366 quotes from Stoic philosophers on how to live a good life. I had previously read this a couple years ago and benefited a lot from it, and I've decided to read it again this year. Every day, I read the quote, the explanation, and then journal my thoughts and reflections. At the end of each month, I review my reflections and summarize the month. January just finished, so this article will summarize my January reflections. Image Source: GPT. I'm impressed with all the symbolism GPT incorporated!   1: To walk the path of life effectively, we have to focus on what we can control and not what's outside our control.   Jan 1: "The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to the uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own." —Epictetus   Jan 9: "Some things are in our control, while others are not. We control our opinion, choice, desire, aversion, and, in a word, everything of our own doing. We don't control our body, property, reputation, position, and, in a word, everything not of our own doing. Even more, the things in our control are by nature, free, unhindered, and unobstructed, while those not in our control are weak, slavish, can be hindered, and are not our own." —Epictetus   Focusing on what we can control sounds simple and obvious, but if we look around, who actually practices it? So many people get upset and worried about things outside of their control. This one shift in mindset is key to reducing negative emotion and increasing inner peace.   Adding the teaching of causality here is very useful. Every result has its causes and condition. Icon Sources: Flaticon For example, if someone treats me rudely today, that's a result. To get upset about it is both illogical and a waste of energy.   It's illogical because the result definitely has its cause and conditions, meaning it is reasonable. Perhaps they had a bad day. Perhaps we mistreated them in the past. Perhaps they learned rude behavior from years of observing rude elders. We are upset because we think it's not reasonable, but there is definitely a reason for it. The current result and past events are outside of our control, so getting upset is a waste of our energy. But we can control our reaction, which plants the seeds for the future.   If we want to improve our relationship with them, we can take initiative to treat them well. If we want to improve our emotional stability, then we practice shifting our thoughts to something like, "What others do is their matter. But my feelings are my matter. I can choose how I feel regardless of what others do."   Thus, focusing on what's in our control is a good use of our energy. Not only does it help us to regain peace in the present, but it also helps us to create a better future.   My Practice: I used to complain a lot. But after I did the 21-Day No Complaint Challenge years ago, I started to re-train my thoughts. If a thought of complaint arose, I would talk back at it with proper thoughts like "Focus on what's in my control" and "Use the law of causality to analyze this situation". After many years, I now complain much less, and my emotions are a lot more stable.   2: Why learn and practice philosophy? Because it brings us freedom and tranquility. Jan 2: "What is the fruit of these teachings? Only the most beautiful and proper harvest of the truly educated--tranquility, fearlessness, and freedom…Only the educated are free." —Epictetus   Jan 31: "Don't return to philosophy as a task-master, but as patients seek out relief in a treatment of sore eyes, or a dressing for a burn, or from an ointment. Regarding it this way, you'll obey reason without putting it on display and rest easy in its care." —Marcus Aurelius   Everyone just wants to be happy in life. But a lot of us don't know where true, long-lasting happiness comes from. A lot of people chase external pleasures, like food, parties, games, TV, excitement, etc. But these are all fleeting pleasures. After the external stimulation is gone, we feel empty, and we might need more stimulation next time to feel the same level of pleasure.   Ancient philosophers taught that true happiness comes from good relationships and self-improvement. The former is a result of the latter, meaning that improving oneself is the root of long-lasting happiness. If we can manage our emotions better, make better decisions, behave and speak better, then of course our life will flourish. Hence why Epictetus said learning (and practicing) philosophy brings us tranquility, fearlessness, and freedom. Image Source: GPT   Right now, we have problems that create unhappiness and suffering, problems such as bad emotional management, lack of wisdom to make decisions, and ineffective speech and behavior that leads to conflict and problems. Thus, learning philosophy is not for fun, it's to treat our illnesses so that we can return to health.   My Practice: I reflect on myself every day using a merit-fault journal. I pick the list of virtues I want to cultivate and vices I want to correct. When I practice those virtues, I give myself a point. When I commit wrongdoings, I subtract a point. This is a great way to keep myself accountable on my journey of self-cultivation.   3: To walk the path of life effectively, we have to know our priorities and be able to say no. Jan 3: "How many have laid waste to your life when you weren't aware of what you were losing, how much was wasted in pointless grief, foolish joy, greedy desire, and social amusements—how little of your own was left to you. You will realize you are dying before your time!" —Seneca   Jan 5: "Let all your efforts be directed to something, let it keep that end in view. It's not activity that disturbs people, but false conceptions of things that drive them mad." —Seneca   A lot of people are unconsciously running on a rat wheel, busy from morning to night with the same routine, but not seeming to make any progress. It's tiring. It's unproductive. But few people say, "Enough", jump out of the rat wheel, and think long and hard about where it is they want to go and what is truly essential. Once we know our goal, we can then return to the rat wheel of daily life. Except now, it won't be mindless activity, it'll be intentional action.   My Practice: Every day I reflect on the virtue of "proper prioritization". As the Great Learning says, "To know what comes first and after is to be near the Way."   I also know my short-term and long-term goals, and I can connect what I do today to those goals.   4: Overcome addictions Jan 8: "We must give up many things to which we are addicted, considering them to be good. Otherwise, courage will vanish, which should continually test itself. Greatness of soul will be lost, which can't stand out unless it disdains as petty what the mob regards as most desirable." —Seneca   Jan 16: "So in the majority of other things, we address circumstances not in accordance with the right assumptions, but mostly by following wretched habit. Since all that I've said is the case, the person in training must seek to rise above, so as to stop seeking out pleasure and steering away from pain; to stop clinging to living and abhorring death; and in the case of poverty and money, to stop valuing receiving over giving." —Musonius Rufus   My Thoughts: I used to chase external pleasures such as delicious food, video games, and TV shows. An appropriate amount of these things are fine, but we have to be cautious against getting addicted. If we start thinking about these things all the time and feel a strong sense of craving, then we are slipping into addiction.   Aside from external things being addictions, our way of thinking can also be an addiction. Some people habitually think negatively. Some people are addicted to anger. Such habits, as Musonius said, are "wretched". They create a lot of suffering for ourselves. Philosophy is not for talk. Philosophy is action and practice. Changing these bad habits is the work of philosophers and self-cultivators.   James Clear said, “The quality of our lives depends on the quality of our habits.”   Since so much of our daily life is driven by habit, if we can consciously cultivate good habits and eliminate bad habits, our life would change drastically.   My Practice: I've read a lot about habit change, and I summarized the best practices and my own experience in the article How to Build Healthy Habits that Stick and Break Bad Ones .     5: Reflect Daily Jan 22 "I will keep constant watch over myself and—most usefully—will put each day up for review. For this is what makes us evil—that none of us looks back upon our own lives. We reflect upon only that which we are about to do. And yet our plans for the future descend from the past." —Seneca   At the end of each day, Seneca would ask himself, "What bad habit did I curb today? How am I better? Were my actions just? How can I improve?"   Image Source: Unsplash A major difference between self-cultivators and non-cultivators is that self-cultivators are trying their best to be constantly aware of their every thought, speech, and action, and are intentionally trying to improve. Non-cultivators just follow their personality and habits, and so those bad habits grow. This is a standard to judge if we are true philosophers or not.   To help us develop this awareness, daily written reflection is essential. As management guru Peter Drucker said, "What gets measured gets done".   I would add, what gets recorded is remembered. When we record our mistakes and how we will improve next time, we are more likely to actually improve next time.   Theoretically, if we improve by just 1% a day (a little a day), that would be a 365% improvement in a year. But improvement is not easy. Growth requires intentional effort, while regression just requires us to forget about cultivation. Even with intentional effort, we might still regress. But if in a week we could average a 1% improvement, that would still be a 50% improvement in a year! A caveat is that growth isn't linear. As we level up, it becomes exponentially harder to grow. But as long as we persist in our cultivation, we will definitely maintain an upward trend.    My Practice: I have been writing in my merit-fault journal for many years now. In some aspects, I feel like I have plateaued a bit, so it takes a lot to reach the next level. But through perseverance, at least my trend won't go downwards. In other aspects, there is still lots of room for improvement.   Conclusion January's main theme is clarity: getting clear on what Stoic cultivation is, its goals, results, matters, and methods.   Goal and results: true happiness, freedom, and tranquility; curing the illnesses of the mind.   Matters: correcting our bad habits and addictions.   Method: always focusing on what's in our control; daily self-reflection.   Have you read the Daily Stoic  as well? What are your thoughts and reflections? Weekly Wisdom #380

In the first article of this karma series, we looked at five basic rules of karma . This second article will provide a couple stories to illustrate the rule that cause and effect happen at different times. Most of us have probably heard about the Law of Karma (Causality): What goes around comes around. In theory, this sounds great. If we do good, we get good rewards. Those who do evil should get punished. But have you ever noticed that sometimes, good people don't get good rewards, and bad people seem to get away with committing evil? Does that mean the Law of Karma is false?   I had this doubt for a while until I learned that karma is not instantaneous. It usually takes time. Image Source The Law of Karma is analogous to planting a fruit tree. When we treat someone nice, we plant the seed for a kind reward. When we treat others badly, we plant the seed for others to treat us badly. The seed needs conditions to ripen before it grows into a tree and fruits.   Below are a couple real stories to illustrate the Law of Karma.   Story 1: A Generous Cup of Wine During the Six Dynasties period of ancient China (220–589), there was a man named Yin Keng (陰鏗). He was well-read in history and talented in poetry. He was very famous and heavily praised by Emperor Chen Wen at the time.   One time, he held a banquet with many friends and guests at a restaurant, and they enjoyed many rounds of drinks. He noticed that the waiter had come and served them wine many times. Seeing him work so hard, he felt sympathy for him, so he decided to treat the waiter to some wine and food.   His friends all looked at him in astonishment and asked, " Why would you treat the waiter to our wine and food? "   Yin replied, " Our waiter has worked very hard all night serving us fine wine countless times, and perhaps he's never tasted such delicacies. Giving him a taste is the least I can do. "   The waiter was thoroughly touched by Yin's respect towards a waiter like him.   Later, during the Hou Jing Rebellion (548–552), the country underwent turmoil. Yin got captured by bandits and faced the risk of losing his life. Suddenly, a man charged in out of nowhere, fierce and unafraid of death, and saved Yin from the bandits.   Yin asked, " Who are you, and why did you save me? "   The man replied, " I'm the waiter that you offered wine and food to that night. " Image Source: GPT   ( Story Source )   Story 2: An Honest Return of Lost Money During the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), there was a restaurant owner named Ha Jiu (哈九) from Hanximen, Jiangning. One time, a customer from Jiangpu came, and he accidently left a bag with fifty taels of silver (a lot of money!) in the restaurant.   When Ha Jiu noticed the bag of silver, he thought, " The customer must have accidentally left his money here. Also, there's a chance he might not remember where he lost the money. " Thus, he chased after the customer and found him near the river. The customer thanked him dearly for returning his lost money to him.   Later, the man from Jiangpu returned to his hometown. He safely got off the boat, but there were strong winds at the time, and he saw that a boat had just capsized. There were probably twenty or so people in need of rescue. This man thought to himself, " If it weren't for Ha Jiu, I wouldn't even have this bag of silver right now. I may as well use it for good. "   He then shouted to all the fishermen nearby, " For every person you save, I will reward you with five taels of silver! "   All the fishermen rushed into action and tried to save the drowning people. But due to the severe weather, they were only able to save one person. That person just happened to be Ha Jiu's son. Image Source: GPT   ( Story Source )     Commentary From the stories above, we see that what goes around will definitely come around. We just have to wait until the conditions ripen. Usually, it takes time, like in the case with Yin Keng. He planted a seed of kindness during the banquet, and many years later, the conditions ripened: there was turmoil in the country, Yin encountered bandits, and the waiter happened to be there and able to help. Naturally, the waiter saved him. But even before that, when his friends saw him treat a waiter so nicely, they already respected him more, and that is also part of his karmic reward.   Very rarely, the conditions ripen very fast, like in the case with Ha Jiu. He planted a seed of goodness when he returned the money to the customer, and shortly after, the customer encountered a situation to save his son. What's more, the customer didn't even know the son was on the boat. We might think it's pure coincidence that the only person who was saved was Ha Jiu's son, but when we understand karma, we know that this isn't a coincidence. If Ha Jiu didn't return the money, his son would not have survived either. And if he didn't have such a strong thought of kindness to chase after the customer to return the money, he might not have made it in time. Thus, if we want good fortune in the future, we need to plant good karmic seeds now .   There's a Chinese proverb that goes, "Only focus on planting. Don't worry about the harvest."   In the context of karma, it means only focus on planting good karmic seeds, and don't worry about the karmic rewards. When the conditions are ripe, the rewards will come naturally. But if we are always selfish and calculative about doing good deeds, then our kindness will be limited, and we will miss out on a lot of good fortune in the future. And if we don't want a bad future, we need to avoid planting bad karmic seeds now. Once karmic seeds are planted, they will never vanish, and they will definitely fruit once the conditions are ripe.   For example, there are some wealthy people who earn money using unscrupulous ways. Later, they suddenly contract a grave illness or die in some strange accident. Or their children squander all their money. This is also the result of their negative karma. Another example is when people mistreat their parents. Later, when they have children of their own, their children also mistreat them. What goes around comes around.   I don't think it's a coincidence that all religions and philosophies emphasize the Golden Rule: Treat others the way you want to be treated. When we understand karma, we realize it's not only to be nice to the other person, it's also for our own future fortune.   Guest Commentary Recently, I read an email newsletter titled "Past, Present, and Future" from Victor Cheng, who is a very successful management consultant that I admire. Although he didn't mention the word "karma" in his email, his admonishment is exactly about karma. He wrote: "The choices you make today persist. If you build good relationships today, they help you five, ten, and 15 years down the road. In my 20s, I couldn’t even conceive of life that far in advance, beyond theoretical terms. In my 40s, I have been SO glad that I treated people fairly and well years ago.   I’m glad that I put in the extra effort in -- two, five, ten, fifteen-plus years ago -- to make my work as strong as possible. The people who encountered my work in those years have come back into my life and career, and brought more people and more opportunities with them. Those efforts make this year’s and the next decade's worth of opportunities possible.   Here’s the thing. In all those examples from the past, nobody was really watching. I could have very easily cut corners in areas of my career. Nobody would have noticed. The things that become assets in your career are often created years earlier when nobody else is watching. You could very easily cut corners, dismiss that person, or add less value. Nobody would ever know. When you make those extra efforts (even when you don’t have to... or especially when you don’t have to), they add up over time. You can choose to do the bare minimum to not offend anyone.   Or...You can choose to do the maximum possible, given your skills and availability. In the week following in either case, there’s no material difference in outcome. However, in the decade that follows, the outcome difference is night and day.   Which approach are you using? What future are you creating (or not creating) for yourself today?"   Conclusion What karmic seeds are you planting today and every day? They might not fruit immediately, but eventually, when the conditions are ripe, they will. Weekly Wisdom #385

What goes around comes around…right? Image Source But have you ever noticed that when we do good deeds, we don’t always get good rewards? For example, we treat someone nice, but they don’t treat us nice in return? Or people who are immoral have a lot of good fortune and lucky breaks? Does that mean karma is superstition?   I used to have these doubts, but after learning about karma, or more formally the law of causality, in more depth, my doubts have been answered. Once we truly understand and believe in causality, it is quite freeing and empowering. We know that by being a good and moral person and by accumulating good deeds, our life will definitely become better and better. When we actually do it, we will see results, which then fuels our faith and motivation even more.   A lecture that really helped me to understand the law of causality is "Causality Education Saves People's Hearts" by Venerable Master Jing Kong. The lecture is in Chinese, but I will summarize the key points in this article.   At the very beginning, Venerable Jing Kong emphasizes the importance of karma education by saying, “How can we save people from creating negative karma? How can we save this turbulent society? There is nothing more effective than to promote the education of causality.”   He then says that to promote education on causality, we must understand these five basic rules of causality: Cause and effect happen at different times Cause and effect run through three time periods Small causes lead to big results Good and bad karma do not offset each other Causality is eternal; karmic seeds never deteriorate   1: Cause and Effect Happen at Different Times Karma or causality is analogous to planting a fruit tree. After we plant a seed (the cause), it takes time for the seed to reach fruit (the result); it’s not going to be immediate. Moreover, it takes proper conditions, such as sunlight and water, for the seed to grow and fruit. Furthermore, an apple seed will definitely reap apples, while a pear seed will definitely reap pears; there's no way an apple seed would reap pears or a pear seed would reap apples. All of this is the same for karmic seeds. Icon Sources: Flaticon   If we do a good deed now and immediately receive a good reward, the reward is not a result of the good deed we did recently, but rather the result of good karmic seeds from our past. Our current good deed was a “helping condition” to help that past seed fruit good results for us faster.   If we do good deeds now but receive bad retributions, it does not mean our good deeds will not produce good results. It means that our past bad karmic seed has now matured and appeared first. However, the good deeds we do now will act as a “barrier-condition” to lessen the bad retributions from that bad cause. If we weren’t doing good deeds now, the bad retribution would be even worse. This is the intricate relationship between cause, condition, and effect.   Many people do not believe in causality because they don’t understand this foundational principle. They see people committing sins and still enjoying good fortune, or they see good people who live in poverty and indignity. They then conclude that there is no punishment for immoral deeds and no rewards for good deeds.   In reality, the people who are committing sins right now yet still enjoying good fortune must have accumulated great goodness in their past lives, and their fortune has not been used up yet. After their fortune is depleted, the dreadful retributions will appear. The law of causality will never go wrong.   (For people who grew up in the western world, such as myself, we might think reincarnation is woo-woo, fake, non-scientific superstition. That was certainly the case with me. A book that changed my mind is “The Scientific Proof of Reincarnation” by Dr. Zhong Maosen. I won’t go into detail about it in this article, but you can read my book summary here . Another insightful story here .)    2: Cause and Effect Run Through Three Time Periods The three time periods are past, present, and future. Buddhism teaches: "If you want to know your past lives, look into your present conditions. If you want to know your future lives, look into your present actions."   Buddhism also explains that giving results in receiving: Giving wealth results in gaining wealth in the future. Giving knowledge and wisdom results in intelligence and wisdom in the future. Giving fearlessness and peace-of-mind results in health and longevity in the future.   Icon Sources: Flaticon For example, if we suffer poverty and illness in this lifetime, we must have committed the karma of miserliness and killing in past lifetimes. If we are wealthy, we must have given a lot of wealth to help others in past lives.   There are four types of retributions based on when the retribution manifests: Current life retribution *: The cause is planted in this life, and the result is received in this life. Next Life Retribution : The karmic seeds planted in this lifetime will beget retribution in the next life. This is the most common phenomenon. Later Lives Retribution : The karma seeds planted in this lifetime will beget retribution in the third, fourth, or even later lifetimes. Uncertain Time Retribution : The karma seeds planted in this lifetime can receive retribution in any lifetime depending on what conditions you encounter.   *For current life retributions, this happens when we create tremendously large good or evil (immoral) karma, hence we receive the result in this life. The book Liao Fan’s Four Lessons  talks about this kind of situation, proving that we can change our karma in our current lifetime. The result in this life is called the “flower-retribution.” It is like flowers blooming before a plant bears fruit. The real karmic effect is in future lives, and the magnitude of the “fruit-retribution” will be even greater.   3: Small Causes Lead to Big Results A small watermelon seed buried in the dirt will grow into many big watermelons, each of which is full of many more watermelon seeds, which can then produce many more watermelons. The same is true for karmic seeds. There is a proverb that goes, “Give one and beget ten thousand in return.”   Example 1: One Sincere Act of Goodness Results in Huge Karmic Rewards A servant was taking some spoiled food out of the house to dump. When she stepped outside, she saw the solemn and magnificent demeanor of the Buddha. Her heart gave rise to deep and profound respect. She wanted to make an offering to the Buddha, but all she had was the spoiled food in her hand. Just as she hesitated, the Buddha began to smile and emit light. He came over and happily used His bowl to scoop some of the spoiled food from the old woman’s hands.   Image Source: GPT The Buddha turned His head and told his attendant, Anada, “This woman is wholeheartedly devout. Because of the merit of her sincere offering to a Buddha, in the future, she will have fifteen kalpas*, such a long time, to enjoy happiness in heaven. And after the fifteenth kalpas, she would descend into the human realm where she would have the karmic condition of being a monk.”   (*A kalpha is an unimaginably long time. There isn’t one definition for kalpha, but at the low estimate, it would be 16 million years, while at the high estimate it would be 1.3 trillion years.)   Example 2: A Single Immoral Act Results in Tragic Retributions for Kalpas One of the Buddha’s students was named Maudgalyāyana. In a past life, he tried to kill his blind parents. He pretended that some robbers came, and then he started to brutally beat his parents. Unexpectedly, his parents did not call on him to save them, but shouted for their son to run for his life. He was so moved by his parents’ unconditional love that his conscience returned. He then knelt down and repented for his wrongdoings.   Due to this negative karma of intending to kill his own parents, his life was shortened. That was the flower-retribution. The fruit-retribution came after. In the next life, he fell into the torturous hell realm for a very long time. After leaving hell, he still had to endure the misery of the hungry ghost realm and then the animal realm. When he finally reincarnated as a human, he was brutally beaten until his bones were pulverized into pieces for 500 lifetimes.   This story illustrates why awakened beings like Buddhas and Bodhisattvas fear the cause, while deluded mortals only fear the result. When awakened beings receive bad retribution, they know it is brought about by past negative karma. But when deluded mortals receive bad retributions, they commit more evil, such as becoming angry or cheating others in an attempt to benefit themselves. This then creates more negative karma, and each life gets worse and worse.   4: Good and Bad Karma Do Not Offset Each Other Good and bad karmic seeds cannot offset each other. When the conditions are in place, each seed will have its own result.   However, good and bad seeds can affect each other. Planting good seeds now is an “assisting condition” to the previous good karma we have planted; it will increase the effect of good results. It also serves as a “buffering condition” to past bad karma and weaken the bad effect. Conversely, doing immoral deeds now will strengthen the influence of past bad karma and weaken the effect of past good karma.   5: Causality is eternal; karmic seeds never deteriorate The karmic seeds of good and evil are stored in what’s called our Alaya consciousness (Alaya-vijnana). These seeds will never be lost nor deteriorate. When the conditions are in place, the seeds will fruit into karmic reward or retribution.   Therefore, as long as we are within the six realms of reincarnation, we can never escape karmic retributions. That is why only deluded mortals dare to create bad karma. Awakened beings dare not create bad karma because they understand that the retribution of causality is exceedingly exact.   Quantum Physics Also Supports Karma Something else that helped me believe in karma is quantum physics. The essence of karma education is to teach us to be good people and accumulate good deeds in order to gain fortune. We can broadly categorize karma into three categories: action, speech, and thoughts.   For example, when we give someone a gift, they will want to give us a gift back in the future. That is the karma from our good action. When we praise others, others will want to praise us back in the future. That is the karma from our good speech. These two examples are fairly easy to accept.   But even our thoughts have karma. When we constantly hold kind thoughts to help others, we actually attract kind people to our lives. After all, our thoughts determine our actions and speech, so a person who has a kind heart will accumulate good actions and speech, thus creating good karma.   But quantum physics has proven that just thoughts alone can influence our reality. That’s because our physical world is actually made up of energy. If you take an atom and keep splitting it smaller and smaller, you get protons, electrons, quarks, neutrinos, until finally, just energy (electromagnetic waves). In other words, the basis for our physical world is non-physical energy.     Moreover, our thoughts and emotions are energy. Everyone has an electromagnetic energy field around their body, and it is determined by our thoughts and emotions. Our thoughts are electric and our emotions are magnetic.   Chart from Becoming Supernatural by Joe Dispenza   From the picture, we can see that elevated emotions such as compassion, joy, and gratitude are high energy, while low emotions like greed, fear, and stress are low energy. Higher energy states attract a better reality, while lower energy states attract a worse reality. In other words, a kind heart actually attracts fortune, while an immoral heart attracts misfortune. When we understand this, we will be much more careful about our thoughts and intentions, and cultivate a kind and virtuous heart.   Conclusion Broadly speaking, karma can be split into our actions, speech, and thoughts. Whatever we do or say to others, it will come back to us once the conditions are ripe. Even our thoughts have karma, as quantum physics has proven that elevated emotions attract fortune, while negative emotional states attract misfortune.   When we understand karma, we understand that all our current fortune and misfortune are created by our past karma, and all our future fortune and misfortune can be created starting today. If we want a better future, we have to understand that being a good person and accumulating good deeds will definitely lead to a better life sooner or later. Once we believe this, we will be willing to act. After doing it for a while, we will definitely see results, which then fuels our belief and action more.   Weekly Wisdom #384

The Daily Stoic  is a book with 366 quotes from Stoic philosophers on how to live a good life. I had previously read this a couple years ago and benefited a lot from it, and I've decided to read it again this year. Every day, I read the quote, the explanation, and then journal my thoughts and reflections. At the end of each month, I review my reflections and summarize the month.   February's topic is passions and emotions, and this article will summarize my February reflections. Image Source: GPT   1: Being our own master is truly impressive and commendable. A lot of people look up to those who are wealthy, famous, attractive, powerful, influential etc. But the stoics taught that being able to be our own master is true strength and worthy of praise.   Feb 1: "Keep this thought handy when you feel a fit of rage coming on—it isn't manly to be enraged. Rather, gentleness and civility are more human, and therefore manlier. A real man doesn't give way to anger and discontent, and such a person has strength, courage, and endurance—unlike the angry and complaining. The nearer a man comes to a calm mind, the closer he is to strength." —Marcus Aurelius   I remember hearing an analogy that went like this: a tough general can charge into battle without fear of death, but if you try to force him to overcome his bad habits, he'll squirm and struggle. Indeed, being able to master ourselves is not easy, which is why it is so commendable. In order to accomplish this, we need to work hard. Not just work hard, we need to train rigorously, like an Olympian.   Feb 18: "This is the true athlete—the person in rigorous training against false impressions. Remain firm, you who suffer, don't be kidnapped by your impressions! The struggle is great, the task divine—to gain mastery, freedom, happiness, and tranquility." —Epictetus   Training like a true athlete means taking the training very seriously. "Good enough" isn't good enough here; we're aiming for excellence. This requires us to know our triggers and weak spots, and then repeatedly practice drills to overcome them. For example, if we know that a trigger for our anger is being unfairly criticized, then we need to consciously practice staying calm in such situations, until we become adept at it. That is training like an athlete. For what do we train? Mastery, freedom, happiness, and tranquility. Are these not worth the effort?   My Practice: I keep a merit-fault journal where I write down the virtues I practiced and the mistakes I made each day. From analyzing my entries, I became aware of my common problems and triggers, and I worked out response tactics to deal with them. I also picked certain virtues that I want to work on and use my daily journal as a streak-tracker. This is my daily training for my character.   2: Not being able to control emotions is destructive. Factually, this sounds obvious. But people don't take it to heart. Otherwise, people would be much more motivated to overcome negative emotions like anger, greed, arrogance, and fear.   Feb 10: "There is no more stupefying thing than anger, nothing more bent on its own strength. If successful, none more arrogant, if foiled, none more insane—since it's not driven back by weariness even in defeat, when fortune removes its adversary it turns its teeth on itself." —Seneca   Feb 7: "Many are harmed by fear itself, and many may have come to their fate while dreading fate." —Seneca   If a virus or bacteria wants to harm us, they have to first go through our immune system. But when we have negative emotions, that directly harms us from the inside. Negative emotions like anger and fear make us do irrational things that harm others and ourselves.   Moreover, according to both western and Chinese medicine, our emotions are key for our physical health. According to western medicine, when the brain feels certain emotions, it releases certain hormones into the blood, which will affect our physical health. Long-term stress weakens the immune system, anger raises blood pressure and is linked to heart disease, and victimization is linked to cancer.   According to Chinese medicine, anger hurts the liver, worry hurts the stomach, elation hurts the heart, sorrow hurts the lungs, and fear hurts the kidneys. On the contrary, positive emotions like contentment, serenity, and kindness are good for our emotions and body.   We need to realize the direct and great harm of negative emotions to motivate ourselves to overcome them.   My Practice: I've experienced the pain of negative emotions, so I feel motivated to overcome them. Although I still succumb to these bad habits, I'm not content to remain this way. I reflect on each incident and write down my plan to do better next time. Also, I practice meditation daily to help preserve a calm state of mind.   3: Getting upset is nonsensical. Sometimes, we may understand principles logically, but we may not resonate with them emotionally. The stoics understood this and used a lot of humorous and witty analogies to help us truly resonate with these principles and remember them better.   Feb 8: "You cry, I'm suffering severe pain! Are you then relieved from feeling it, if you bear it in an unmanly way?" —Seneca   I laughed at this one. Indeed, reacting so emotionally is kind of childish and immature. If someone is able to provoke us, then isn't our level of maturity basically the same as theirs? Feb 23 "You shouldn't give circumstances the power to rouse anger, for they don't care at all." —Marcus Aurelius   This one kind of stings. Indeed, the world doesn't care how any one person feels. Moreover, someone who is overly emotional repels people. If we truly want to attract the care and help of others, we need to be able to manage our emotions and communicate them in appropriate and polite ways.   Feb 29: "When children stick their hand down a narrow goody jar they can't get their full fist out and start crying. Drop a few treats and you will get it out! Curb your desire—don't set your heart on so many things and you will get what you need." —Epictetus   What a silly scene, right? Yet when we get overwhelmed or upset, it's because what we want exceeds what's realistic, like that child trying to grab a fist full of candy from the goody jar. Getting upset and crying when you can't get everything you want is nonsensical. Adjusting our wants is the sensical thing to do.   We only have so much time and energy, so we need to know what really matters and focus on those. We also need to be patient. If that child grabbed one candy at a time, his hand wouldn't get stuck. But if he's impatient and wants lots at once, he'll get stuck.   From another perspective, whenever we want to control something not within our control, that's analogous to grabbing a fist full of candy. It's a big ask, and reality often will not fulfill this demand. We might think, "That person is too unreasonable!" But excuse me, who said others have an obligation to follow your wishes? Are they your slave? Besides, if they treat us a certain way, it's surely related to the way we treat them. If we cannot even change ourselves to treat them with more courtesy and understanding, isn't it unreasonable and immature of us to expect them to be able to do that for us?   Feb 15 "Clear your mind and get a hold on yourself and, as when awakened from sleep and realizing it was only a bad dream upsetting you, wake up and see that what's there is just like those dreams." —Marcus Aurelius   It's so interesting to me how Stoicism has many parallels with Buddhism. The Buddha also talked about how everything is like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, or a shadow. I wrote about this in more detail in another article , so I won't elaborate here. The basic idea is that everything is impermanent and always changing, so we shouldn't think that we can control things, or that things should go according to our wishes. If we have this kind of attitude, we wouldn't be much more peaceful and detached in life.   My Practice: I might not always be able to prevent negative emotions from arising, but after I calm down and write in my reflection journal, I use teachings like these to change my way of thinking and thus my feelings. I remember getting upset at some students for their "unreasonable" behavior, but then I thought about these teachings, and me getting angry at them would mean my level of maturity is the same as theirs…no thank you. Or if I feel very upset at something right now, just think about something very upsetting from the past. It feels so distant and blurry, like a dream. Why not just fast-forward to that feeling now?   4: Focus on what's in your control, and you will find calm. Why do we experience negative emotions like anger, annoyance, anxiety, fear, worry, and upset? It's because we want something but cannot get it. These things are not within our control. If we instead turn our attention and energy onto what is  within our control, we will regain peace of mind.   Feb 3: "When I see an anxious person, I ask myself, what do they want? For if a person wasn't wanting something outside of their own control, why would they be stricken by anxiety?" —Epictetus   Feb 9: "We have the power to hold no opinion about a thing and to not let it upset our state of mind—for things have no natural power to shape our judgments." —Marcus Aurelius   We often think it is the external person, event, or thing that upsets us. But the external condition is just a condition. The true cause is ourselves. To give an analogy, we are the seed, and the external things are like water and sunlight. Without the seed of anger, the fruit of anger wouldn't be possible. Other people could face the exact situation and feel calm or kindness. Thus, the key is to cultivate our mind, our way of thinking, and our virtues. Icon Sources: Flaticon   Abraham Lincoln had a great technique to prevent the harm of negative emotions.   Feb 26: "Abraham Lincoln occasionally got fuming mad with a subordinate, one of his generals, even a friend. Rather than taking it out on that person directly, he'd write a long letter, outlining his case why they were wrong and what he wanted them to know. Then Lincoln would fold it up, put the letter in his desk drawer, and never send it. many of these letters survive only by chance."   My Practice: Every morning, I visualize the people and matters that have upset or annoyed me greatly in the past or recently, and then I thank them for letting me realize my deficiencies in cultivation, and then I bow to them. In this way, I train myself to view these "problem" situations as tests of my cultivation instead of as problems.   I also practice six ways of endurance, which are Enduring through force : when anger rises, force it down. Just say "OK" or "Sorry" or say nothing at all. Enduring through forgetting : Wait 24 hours. Wait until you feel calm to think about it rationally. Enduring through reflection : Focus on my part of the problem. Correct myself. Enduring through observation : Observe impermanence and karma. Enduring through compassion : Understand their perspective and difficulties. Enduring through joy : View it as a test to elevate your cultivation.   Image Source: GPT I have written an article  to explain these in detail, so I won't elaborate here. Lincoln's method falls under enduring through forgetting. I've used it many times. It's one of my go-to methods because it works very well. So many things that upset us are actually small things. Once we are calm, we'll realize there's really no need to bicker about such trivial matters.   5: Guard against indulgence Modern society, especially in media and TV, seems to be hedonistic, encouraging sensual pleasures to the extreme, whether it's tastes, sounds, scents, feelings, sights, or experiences. Proper amounts are fine, but excess becomes unhealthy indulgences that hurt our health and peace of mind.   Feb 11: "Our soul is sometimes a king, and sometimes a tyrant. A king, by attending to what is honorable, protects the good health of the body in its care, and gives it no base or sordid command. But an uncontrolled, desire-fueled, over-indulged soul is turned from a king into that most feared and detest thing—a tyrant." —Seneca   In my perspective, a king is a kind and wise person who inspires followers. A tyrant, on the other hand, is selfish, stubborn, arrogant, and despised. The only reason people follow a tyrant is because they have no choice, but they're plotting to overthrow him. We all have the choice to be kind and wise, but it takes conscious effort. If we delight in indulgence and lack self-control, then we will become like a tyrant that people despise.   Feb 13: "Whenever you get an impression of some pleasure, as with any impression, guard yourself from being carried away with it, let it await your action, give yourself a pause. After that, bring to mind both times, first when you have enjoyed the pleasure and later when you will regret it and hate yourself. Then compare to those the joy and satisfaction you'd feel for abstaining all together. However, if a seemingly appropriate time arises to act on it, don't be overcome by its comfort, pleasantness, and allure—but against all of this, how much better the consciousness and conquering it." —Epictetus   Pleasures are fleeting. When we are obsessed with short-term pleasure, all we can think about is that moment of high, and we forget the feeling of low and craving that follows. If we can calm ourselves down, we can then think about how this negative cycle creates more suffering than happiness, and that what we really want is long-lasting happiness and peace of mind. Indeed, when we can discipline ourselves to do the nobler thing, to overcome our indulgences, to be indifferent to them, that sense of self-mastery is much more joyful.   My Practice: Habit research shows that if we want to overcome a bad habit, it's hard to just stop it, but it's much easier if we replace it with another better habit. For example, I used to be a bit addicted to sweets. Instead of just not eating sweets, I replaced it with healthy snacks like dates and nuts. These healthy snacks don't create cravings like the processed snacks do, and slowly, those cravings went away. I also used to game a lot, but I replaced it with better activities like learning and volunteering. The joy of growth and kindness is much more fulfilling than the mind-numbing "fun" of certain games.   6: Be careful and thoughtful with words. The Stoics talk a lot about cultivating the mind and changing our focus from what's not in our control to what is in our control. But aside from cultivating the mind, cultivating our speech is also extremely important. We speak so much every day. Improper speech attracts a lot of conflict and trouble, while good speech creates fortune.   Feb 22: "Cato practiced the kind of public speech capable of moving the masses, believing proper political philosophy takes care like any great city to maintain the warlike element. But he was never seen practicing in front of others, and no one ever heard him rehearse a speech. When he was told that people blamed him for his silence, he replied, 'Better they not blame my life. I begin to speak only when I'm certain what I'll say isn't better left unsaid.'" —Plutarch, Cato the Younger   I have great admiration towards Cato for his discipline in speech. That requires great discipline of mind, always remaining in a calm and steady state of mind. I'm also reminded of Socrates' Triple Filter Test : Is it true? Is it good? Is it useful? If not, don't say it. Image Source Knowing is one thing. But actually reflecting on how much of our speech today was not true, not good, or not useful is another thing that few people do.   My Practice: I have identified what kind of pointless speech I tend to say: explaining when others aren't in the frame of mind to listen, talking when others are busy, debating over trivial things. I am working on these. I also proactively practice saying more words of consideration and affirmation.   Conclusion February was all about mastering our passions and emotions. Of course, one month probably isn't enough time for most people to attain mastery, but it's a good start. We ought to realize that being overly emotional is not just harmful to ourselves and others, it's also nonsensical.   Additionally, we need to have a strong and steady spirit that isn't tempted by indulgences. Abiding in such a spirit is much more joyful and peaceful than abiding in the weak spirit that chases fleeting pleasures. Finally, we ought to be careful and thoughtful with our speech, only speaking what is good and useful.   The method of practice is, as always, to focus on what's in our control, specifically our perception of things. Circumstances are neutral. How we perceive them determines how we feel about them. Our way of thinking is a habit, but we can change that habit with practice, just like how an athlete is able to improve their body and technique with practice. Weekly Wisdom #383

In the 1400s in ancient Japan, there was a monk named Ikkyū. When he was nine, he already lived in a Zen temple in Kyoto. One day, the abbot (head monk) went out to handle some affairs, and he told all his students to stay in the meditation hall and diligently meditate while he was out.   After meditating for a while, Ikkyū got restless, so he decided to go for a walk. He passed by the abbot's room and found a fellow young monk crying inside. Puzzled, Ikkyū asked him what's wrong.   The other monk replied, "It's a disaster! I'm doomed!"   Ikkyū said, "We are Zen monks. We can't cry!"   The other monk said, "You don't understand. Inside this cabinet is something the master cherishes the most. He usually takes it out secretly to admire it but never lets me see it. Today, when the master was away, I couldn’t resist. I opened it to see what it was. It turned out to be a small porcelain vase. Image Source: GPT I held it in my hands to look at it, but then I accidentally dropped it and broke it. It's a disaster! When the master comes back, I won’t be able to live in peace. I’m really going to die!”   Ikkyū said, "It's OK, don't dry. How about this: you give the broken vase to me, and I'll say I broke it."   The other monk said, "What! Do you really mean it? You're so brave! How could I ever repay you? The master asked me to watch over his room, and he will give me steamed buns to eat. How about I give those steamed buns to you?"   Ikkyū replied, "Sure. You can give the steamed buns to me, and I'll take the broken vase."   Later, the master returned and saw Ikkyū still meditating in the meditation hall. He commented, "Ikkyū, are you meditating diligently?"   Ikkyū replied, " Yes master. I've spent the whole day meditating on a question with great focus."   The master asked, "Oh? And what question is that?"   Ikkyū said, "I've been contemplating whether there is anyone in the world who does not die. Is there, master?"   The master replied, "Oh, my silly disciple. How could there be anyone who does not die? Everything is impermanent, including people's lives."   Ikkyū said, "Oh, I see. If everything is impermanent and all people must die, then what about things? Is there any thing that can last forever?"   “No,” the master replied. “Even inanimate objects are impermanent. They exist when required conditions are met, and they perish when those conditions are gone."   “Oh, I see,” Ikkyū said. “If that’s the case, then when something we cherish dearly perishes, what should we do?”   The master replied, "When conditions disperse, things perish. It's a fact of reality. When we understand the truth, we wouldn't be attached. We can let it go without grievance."   Ikkyū said, "I understand now. Thank you master."   Ikkyū then took the broken vase wrapped in cloth out of his pocket and gave it to the master, saying, "So, I guess this is something that perished because the required conditions are gone." Image Source: GPT   The master looked at the broken pieces and calmly said, "Yes, it is."   ( Story source )   Commentary The story talked about impermanence, which is a central concept in Buddhism. One of the most famous quotes in Buddhism comes from the Diamond Sutra , in which the Buddha said, "All conditioned phenomena are like a dream, illusion, bubble, or shadow; also like dew and lightning, and should be viewed as such."   (Original text: 一切有為法如夢幻泡影，如露亦如電，應作如是觀。) What those things all have in common is that they are impermanent and thus "unreal". When the required conditions are present, such things arise. When the conditions disperse, these things perish. When we talk about "true love" or "real love", we mean eternal love that would never change. Similarly, "real" in this context refers to permanence and unchanging. When we understand impermanence, we would dampen our attachments towards things and our mind would be much more peaceful.   In a dream, things seem real, but we will eventually wake up from the dream, and when we do, we realize it wasn't real. We felt such strong emotions in the dream due to what was happening, but it wasn't actually real. Similarly, a lot of our past upsets are like past dreams. Where did our strong feelings back then go? Thus, feelings are impermanent and "unreal". We don't need to take those feelings too seriously. We don't need to cling to our feelings. If an upsetting event happens today, and we realize that it's like a dream, that in the future, we'll have forgotten about this, then we wouldn't get so upset today. We can remain detached, just like the master in the story.   Illusion is easy to understand. Anyone who's ever looked into magic tricks knows that the magician doesn't let the viewer see the truth. Similarly, when we think that things can be permanent, that we can truly possess them, that things will follow our will and not change or perish when we don't want them to, that's an illusion, a mean trick. Once we understand the truth, we will no longer be deceived by the illusion.   Bubble is also easy to understand. Not only are bubbles short-lived, they are also very fragile. Similarly, many conditioned phenomena are short-lived and fragile. The master's vase is a prime example.   Shadow is a metaphor for being unreal. We wouldn't take a shadow seriously. Yet when certain things happen, we get so upset. It's because we take it too seriously. These matters aren't permanent and will always be changing. That thing upsets you? It's going to change. That thing is awesome and you wish it would stay like that forever? It's also going to change. Don't take it for real, don't take it too seriously.   Dew is another metaphor for impermanence. Its conditions are present in the early morning. By noon, it's too hot and dry, and the dew is gone.   Lightning is yet another metaphor for impermanence, with emphasis on how fast things change. Some things might last longer, like dew, while other things are gone in an instant,  like lightning. "All conditioned phenomena are like a dream, illusion, bubble, or shadow; also like dew and lightning, and should be viewed as such."   Just to be clear, "unreal" does not mean it doesn't exist in that moment. It just means that everything is impermanent and always changing. Impermanence or "unreal" also does not mean we shouldn't care about anything or not have goals. We just shouldn't be stubborn and attached towards them. In everything, we accord with the conditions.   In the Diamond Sutra , the Buddha also said, "Practice all forms of goodness without notions of self, people, all things, and time. In this way, one attains unsurpassed complete enlightenment." (Original text: 以無我、無人、無眾生、無壽者修一切善法，即得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。 )  The Buddha did not tell us to be uncaring or say that we don't need to practice goodness. The Buddha taught us to actively practice goodness, but in the process, we should let go of attachments towards the notions of self, people, things, and time. In this way, not only do we create good karma, but we also cultivate a pure and tranquil mind.   For example, when we do good deeds, we don't keep thinking about how I did a good deed, or the people  I helped, or what  that good deed was, or when  we did it, or when  we should be rewarded. We practice goodness with a pure, sincere, and tranquil mind. If the conditions are ripe for us to do a good deed, we do it earnestly. If not, we don't force it. When we accord with conditions rather than force things, our mind will be tranquil. (For more on detachment, check out this article: Attachment, Suffering, and Letting Go )   A major reason Ikkyū was able to help the master not get angry is because they both study Buddhism, and they often contemplate such teachings.   After hearing this story, I gained three insights.   1: Set the stage before delivering the news There's a Chinese saying that goes, "First put others in a good mood, then talk about matters and logic."   Put in another way, we need to set the stage before bringing out the main act or punchline. I am thoroughly impressed by how Ikkyū set the stage before delivering the news. If it were me, I might have been very nervous and apologetically tell the master that I broke his precious vase. What would be the result? The master would get very angry and take out that anger on me. I need to learn from Ikkyū!   2: Make proper thoughts a habit Secondly, I'm reminded of a quote from Liao Fan's Four Lessons: "When proper thoughts arise, improper thoughts will naturally be unable to affect us."   There's another teaching in Buddhism that goes, "Let never forgetting proper thoughts be the practice of Zen stillness."   In the master's context, proper thoughts refer to the truth of impermanence, while improper thoughts refer to anger and blame. Ikkyū first helped his master bring out proper thoughts in a very tactful way. By asking those questions, his master felt very wise when he replied those questions. Right after saying those words, he was presented with the broken vase, so the power of those words are still fresh in his mind.   I imagine he probably felt a little bit upset, but he thought to himself, "Wow. Ikkyū's right. This really is a perished object whose conditions have dispersed. It was going to perish eventually anyway, so I really shouldn't get upset over it. I just lectured him on this, so I need to take my own medicine."   I need to learn from this master. I remember when I accidentally spilt water all over my past laptop and it broke, I was quite upset. Maybe if I had someone like Ikkyū set the stage for me, I would've been less upset haha. But we can't rely on others to save us, we need to save ourselves. We need to be our own Ikkyū and bring out proper thoughts ourselves.   I used that laptop for a long time, and I did regular back-ups, so it wasn't a big loss. The laptop isn't immortal; it would eventually perish; there's no need to cling to it, just like there's no need to be upset when a flower wilts near the end of its life. We give our thanks for its past service, and then we move on.   If in daily life, we can frequently bring up proper thoughts, like those of impermanence and karma, then that would be practicing Zen in daily life.   3: Good or bad is determined by ourselves Third, I'm reminded of a quote by Master Ou Yi: "Circumstances do not have good or bad. Good or bad is determined by our mind."   For most people, when our precious treasure gets broken, we'd probably view it as a tragedy and feel terribly upset. What's the root cause of this feeling? It's not the matter, it's our attitude. The more attached we are to something, the more anguish we feel when it's gone.   In this story, the master encountered a "disaster", yet he did not get terribly upset. Not only that, he elevated his level of spiritual cultivation. Furthermore, he set a good example for his students. In the future, when he talks about detachment to his students, they would respect him and truly listen to him because he role modelled it. If it weren't for that incident, his students might think, "Talk is cheap. Aren't you super attached to your treasure?"   Thus, whether or not something is a pit or a launch pad is completely determined by ourselves, by our own mind.   Concluding Thoughts Have you ever had to deliver bad news? Did you first set the stage? Have you ever had something precious break? How did you feel? What would you tell yourself now? Weekly Wisdom #382