Thought Essays ⁽¹³⁷⁾

1. Love has no boundaries The healer has no boundaries. The longer one studies medicine, the more one is able to cross every kind of "boundary." There are no national boundaries; all people are citizens of the Earth. Promoting narrow nationalism and racism is ignorant…

1. Wherever the body is, there the heart is at peace I used to think the saying "where the heart is at peace is where the body is at peace" made great sense, and so I searched everywhere for a "place of peace," looking for…

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…

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…

Before formally writing this essay, I would like to recommend that readers first read two pieces: the preface to Wang Xiaobo's The Silent Majority, and Ji Xianlin's short essay "The Chills and Warmths of the World." After I was released from the "cowshed," for several…

In a lecture titled "Feng Zikai and Master Hongyi," Feng Zikai remarked: "I believe human life can be divided into three layers: the first is material life, the second is spiritual life, and the third is soul life. Material life is food and clothing. Spiritual…

1 Former U.S. President Thomas Jefferson had a classic saying: every person's soul should be left to himself to take care of. I have quoted this saying of his many times in my writing, because I love it so much. When I woke up this…

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,…

In almost every group, there is a unanimous view that other groups are inferior to one's own. — The historian Will Durant Deep-seated arrogance and self-righteousness are an inborn affliction of humankind. Everyone may have his beliefs, whatever they are. A person believes what he…