Appreciate in Silence, Rejoice in Quiet

The willow branches of Beijing have put on a tender green; spring has come. In the south one is not easily moved to joy by this long-awaited green, but in the north, after a long winter, seeing green shoots again is a different feeling altogether.

All things under heaven move in endless cycles. Winter gives way to spring, and the world is alive with vigor once more. Time is the final ruler; we grovel at its feet, born, growing, dying, completing the course of life.

I have not yet cultivated to the stage of an Arhat, and cannot cut off desire and cast aside love. As Li Shenzhí's classic couplet puts it—'Now I know all forms are formless; would be passionless, yet still I feel'—facing the beautiful people and things of the world, there are still moments when I am moved. I merely maintain an attitude of 'appreciating in silence, rejoicing in quiet,' watching and admiring from afar. I will no longer draw near to the noisy mortal world, for I cannot bear the fierce love and desire of human life.

Even toward the Dharma itself, I can hold only the attitude of 'appreciating in silence, rejoicing in quiet.' A certain measure of laziness and conservatism can bring a higher quality of life. Mr. Zhang Zhongxing wrote a book called On Following Life. The idea of 'following life' is inherited from Daoism. What does 'following life' mean? Perhaps the three words—accepting what comes, following one's nature, and not forcing—explain it more clearly.

Accepting what comes means not forcing karmic conditions, neither grasping nor clinging. Following one's nature means not forcing oneself, but acting according to one's own heart. All forcing inevitably falls into clinging to form; self-cultivation and the acquisition of wisdom are not matters of a single morning, but with day-by-day accumulation there will surely come a day of understanding. If we cannot solve our own problems at this moment, we may as well leave them to time. Endless time can surely solve all the problems of finite, living creatures.

Evolution and degeneration proceed simultaneously: some aspects evolve while others degenerate; at every moment we are growing and aging. Some capacities are lost, others gained. When passion recedes, reason makes up for a certain amount of it. We are children of nature, born according to natural law and dying according to natural law; there is no choice in the matter.

Possession beyond need is a sickness; forcing things inevitably invites greed, anger, delusion, pride and doubt, which are the beginning of life's disorder. Only by controlling desire and restraining the self can one ensure a lifetime of peace and joy.