Insights and Updates

Yesterday I was in Baigou, Hebei, dealing with a pile of bags and suitcases. A patient I had treated for over a year—after switching to other doctors for more than half a year—developed severe ascites and sought help from every famous physician in Beijing, all…

It is said that Su Dongpo, practicing Buddhism, one day suddenly grew arrogant, feeling he had attained realization and grasped the Buddha's profound and subtle Dharma. Delighted, he wrote a poem, two lines of which read: "Not stirred by the eight winds, / I sit…

In 2007 I wrote on Tianya under the pen name "Chai Sheng." In those days my learning and personal cultivation were shallow, and I stirred up many disputes. One netizen, "00 Xiao Hu 00," of great learning and refinement, constantly protected me and guided my…

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — The United States Declaration of Independence (1776). Lovers of…

Have you ever tried to think from his standpoint? If he thinks that way, there must be his reasons. — Master Xuecheng In anthropology there is the concept of "the Other." The researcher and the researched belong to two different cultures, and each is the…

I The Buddha's teaching takes precepts as the teacher and wisdom as the root. Precepts arise from the mind; apart from the mind there are no precepts, apart from precepts no samadhi, apart from samadhi no wisdom. When the mind gives rise to precepts and…

I take this book to offer my sincere apology to everyone I have ever harmed. Whenever I repent, I weep and cry aloud over the hurt I caused you. I wish the deceased peace and the living happiness. If I must bear some retribution for…

My Revered Teacher, Mr. Li Lixin My revered teacher, Mr. Li Lixin, was a special-grade Chinese language teacher in the Huanggang region of Hubei Province, who devoted his whole life to education. When I was in junior high, my teacher taught at our school; I…

Many times, as I publish articles online, people will call on me to step forward and become a public intellectual. The title "public intellectual" leaves me bewildered. What is a public intellectual? Does "public" mean that I myself have acquired some representative authority? Representing whom?…

If a person stays silent, no one will argue with him. But once he comes out and expresses opinions, a host of opponents appears, because voicing such views is bound to touch some people's sensitive nerves—even their beliefs and vital interests. So among online writers…