What a Bright and Crisp Late Summer and Early Autumn
The scorching dog days are finally drawing to a close, and the autumn air is crisp and clear. As I walk along the road, my heart is light.
I was born at the turn of late summer and early autumn; Heaven has always been kind to me, letting me be born in this finest of seasons.
At the turn of late summer and early autumn, the vegetation is lush and the weather neither cold nor hot; it is a fine time to enjoy life. So from the moment I came into this world, I have been fully enjoying the joy that life brings.
Over forty years, although minor ailments have never ceased, fortunately I have so far never suffered from any especially serious illness. Having witnessed many of my peers pass away in the prime of life, this one fact alone is enough to make me infinitely grateful to the god of fate.
To be alive is already a piece of luck; life itself is a miracle beyond all admiration. That we can live and enjoy everything nature has to offer—what more is there to want?
A gentle breeze drifts by, autumn insects chirp, and all things are peaceful and beautiful. Nature unfolds before me a magnificent scroll: the mountains and rivers are covered in lush vegetation, green ripples dance on the water, sheep graze contentedly, and a few lazy white clouds drift across the blue sky.
The earth, at this moment, healed me; it made me forget my sorrows and made me more tolerant and serene. All beings who have harmed me, I am willing to forgive and treat with kindness. I also sincerely apologize to the beings I have harmed, begging them to give me the chance to heal their wounds.
The earth leaves no anger or hatred in my heart, only joy and gratitude. Compared with this endless beauty bestowed by nature, everything that beings contest with one another in the human world is insignificant.
The earth, at this moment, also made me deeply satisfied with the meaning of my own life. However tiny I am, I have also used my medical skill to bring renewed life to many people on the brink of death, prolonging their lives and letting them, like me, enjoy all the beauty between heaven and earth.
I am willing to become a gentle person, learning as best I can the virtue that nature bestows on all beings without stint. I am also willing to fully enjoy all the beauty that life gives me without the need to buy it: fresh air, a clear sky, green vegetation, rolling mountains and rivers, and waters of a thousand forms. I do not want to squander the infinitely precious life nature has given me, nor waste my time on meaningless complaint and sorrow.
I am willing to love to the full; without love, whether fervent or gentle, life would lose much of its color.
Love fills people with vitality; love also teaches people to care. Love heals the wounds in our own hearts and leads us to heal the wounds of those we love.
Love brings us happiness; love brings us delight. Love is the most precious emotion with which we live in this world; only love can fulfill our souls, while hatred can only make us hideous. Love fills a person with spirit; beside a loving person, withered flowers of life bloom again, and the dying fire of life can be rekindled.
Love gives life meaning!
Late summer and early autumn—ah, this incomparably beautiful season. I am grateful to you for giving me life, grateful for the capacity to love you have bestowed, and grateful for all the enlightenment you have given me.