Maximizing the Value of Life

The British philosopher Bertrand Russell said that if George Washington were to return to life in the 1900s, he certainly would not have liked the already prosperous and developed America of that time, but would most likely have come to China, which was then in deep suffering, to lead the Chinese people in revolution, overthrow the Qing dynasty, and drive out the invaders. Because a person's character determines their way of acting, and also determines their interests and pursuits.

Mr. Russell's words make good sense. I am not as great as Washington, but I too am a person who cannot stay idle for a moment, always hoping to maximize the value of my own life.

Going home on the weekend, I have been busy nonstop, handling work matters, and also rummaging through books at home. Among the classmates I've gotten to know at school recently, two are very interested in psychological illness. I chatted with them, getting a rough sense of what specific questions they are interested in, and also learning about the mental suffering their families are enduring. So I picked out a few related books from my home bookshelf to give them; both classmates were very happy to receive them.

A classmate from another major has studied Western medicine but loves TCM, and even wants to transfer into the TCM department, but finds it difficult to change majors; he wants to teach himself TCM but has no way in. We got to know each other during military training; the young man grew up in the countryside but carries himself with ease, and we talk very well together. This time I brought him Professor Liu Duzhou's lecture notes on the Shanghan Lun and Professor Hu Xishu's lecture notes on the Jingui Yaolue, asking him to read them when he has time to enter the door of TCM.

I also told him about some of China's policies for Western medicine doctors studying TCM: in the future, if he obtains a Western medical practicing physician license, he can take the path of "Western medicine studying TCM" to do integrated Chinese-Western clinical work. When I went to his classroom to find him and give him the books, the young man was overjoyed; he hugged me and excitedly shouted: "Uncle, thank you so much! I love them!" Seeing the smile on his face, I felt deeply gratified.

A young instructor in the military training instructor team also talked with me about TCM during breaks from training. He had actually studied pulse diagnosis and even knew that a floating pulse indicates an exterior pattern. But because it was entirely self-study and just beginning, he was completely confused. That day we talked on the playground for almost a full class period; I sorted out the approach to studying TCM for him and advised him to start with the formula-pattern school, as that makes it easier to get results.

After listening, this young man from Shandong felt quite enlightened. This time I also brought him a copy of Professor Hu Xishu's Shanghan Lun lecture notes to give him. But he is a soldier, and military discipline makes it inconvenient for him to accept my things. Still, he already intends to engage with Professor Hu Xishu's works, and I think that will be a very good beginning for him.

A friend in Beijing, upon learning that I had organized a co-study group at school and needed computers, immediately contacted me and gave me an old laptop from his home. I brought it to school this time; the laptops I ordered online have also arrived, and I also bought 6 USB flash drives online to distribute to several classmates who don't have computers, for storing their own data.

The group eventually grew to 18 members, including two young women from Xinjiang. In my free time, I began taking them to the library to learn how to search the literature and conduct in-depth study in professional fields. The group also held its first discussion meeting and made its first task assignments: each classmate was responsible for a small piece, everyone separately looked up materials and organized notes, and finally all the notes were compiled, then studied and discussed together. I led them in learning to write academic articles, improving their professional abilities, and coordinating their cooperation to complete goals.

Some classmates in the group come from well-off families, have had ample material support since childhood, and have strong foundational abilities; others come from poor families, have never touched a computer, can't even do basic computer operations, and the library is a very novel place to them. But they all have some learning ability; they didn't know how before simply because they lacked the conditions. I try my best to create conditions for them so that during university they can make up for these shortcomings.

And so my life at school has become much richer, and I no longer feel the loneliness I had when I first arrived. I think life is about fulfilling one connection after another; there is also a certain karmic connection between me and this school, and between me and the classmates here. Fate arranged for us to gather here, and we can make full use of this rare connection to progress together.

Buddhism has a saying that an arhat must walk the bodhisattva path of Mahayana before can become a Buddha. The Mahayana bodhisattva path is a path of saving the world, the spirit advocated by Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva: "I vow not to become a Buddha until the hells are emptied"; "If I do not enter hell, who will enter hell?" Spiritual liberation goes through several stages: after liberating oneself, one must still go deep into the multitude of sentient beings, experience more suffering, grow through that suffering, and only then reach the true state of nirvana.

I don't know what everything I'm doing now will ultimately bring me. But as the ancient Chinese said: "Treat the elders of your own family as the elders of others, and the young of your own family as the young of others." My mother has already gone to another world because of a terrible disease; my own child is also growing up. The pain I have experienced, I don't want others to experience; I also want to see other people's children grow up better.

There are also several classmates from very poor families whom I am getting to know further, trying to give them some help without hurting their self-esteem. I think this help can not only solve some of their immediate difficulties, but also prevent them from feeling that society is cold and heartless; when they practice medicine in the future, perhaps they too will become warm people.

At 46, one is in the prime of life. I hope to live every day of these prime years meaningfully, rather than wasting time, which is why I have chosen a way of living that maximizes the value of each day.