Life Insights ⁽³⁰⁵⁾

At noon on June 29, 2018, after I had seen the patients booked for the day, a sudden severe pain struck me. It was like a knife twisting inside, and it intensified rapidly. I was in such pain that cold sweat streamed down, and I…

I was born coarse and arrogant. As a child I was dull-witted and cocky, the kind beyond redemption. By sheer luck I happened to meet a few teachers who took to me and strained to salvage me, finally cultivating in me one or two redeeming…

At night I had a very sci-fi dream: after a great downpour, floods raged everywhere on earth, and everyone was busy fighting the disaster; I worked especially hard. Suddenly, with a whoosh, I was sucked by an external force into outer space, utterly terrifying. There…

1 I remember back then, I loved the Qinhuai River and chanced to leave my hometown. Beyond Meigen and Ye, I roared and roamed several times; in the Village of Apricot Blossoms, I wandered to and fro. Wind died on the tall parasol trees, insects…

Every faith carries a groan. —from Bei Dao, "All Things" Lately there have been many scandals in religious circles—Catholicism, Buddhism; the United States, China, South Korea—none is exempt. First, I wish to express deep sympathy to the innocent people harmed in these scandals. I hope…

The sky is high and crisp; after one autumn rain after another, Beijing has grown much cooler, and the hot summer is finally drawing to a close. Buddhism has the tradition of varsa, the summer rains retreat. I was born at the turn of summer…

Being born a human, I am sorry. —Line from the film Memories of Matsuko (Kiraware Matsuko no Issho) I have suffering because I have a body. Without this stinking skin-bag, I suppose I would not have to endure so many sins, nor commit so many…

Starting at age seven, when I entered school and learned the phonetic alphabet, under my grandmother's half-coaxing, half-urging encouragement, I used the pinyin to help her (my grandmother was illiterate but an extremely devout Buddhist) recite the Diamond Sutra, the Zhang Gong Hundred Patience Sutra,…

June 16, 2018, the first day of the Dragon Boat Festival long weekend. At five in the morning I had already washed up, walked from home to the office I rented, which doubles as my study and workshop, practiced the qin for half an hour,…

Dear readers: I am very sorry to announce that, due to my limited personal energy, I have made some adjustments: I am stopping updates to Weibo, WeChat Moments, and Toutiao micro-posts; my past short posts on Toutiao and Weibo have all been deleted; and, unable…