At the turn of life

Author: Zheng Shiyan
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2006-06-01
Features: The book employs Zen meditation methods such as universal mental factors, special mental factors, wholesome mental factors, and afflictive mental factors from Yogācāra psychology to transform consciousness into wisdom. It elevates (afflictions), challenges, and obstacles into motivation for spiritual growth, enabling the mind to achieve freedom. Focusing on higher aspects of spiritual life, this book aims at life adjustment, life realization, and ultimate care for the soul. Through love and wisdom, it teaches people to learn to turn, master the skills of a joyful life. Life is like a river, constantly turning and winding, overcoming mountains and valleys, gathering streams, and becoming a mighty flow. The essence of life is realization, not pursuit; it is to face the realities of the environment, learn to turn and grow, not to collide head-on or flee. This is a book that discusses elevating spiritual life, maintaining physical and mental health, and achieving a happy life. It emphasizes practical psychological counseling and consultation, integrating theoretical frameworks and focusing on higher aspects of spiritual life, with the goals of life adjustment, life realization, and ultimate care for the soul. More importantly, it touches on the hope and ultimate meaning of life, helping you find your path. Modern people live in a free and open society, facing immense life pressures from competition, busyness, and the relentless pursuit of economic growth. We live under a pluralistic value system with multiple choices, and value conflicts often become pressures in psychological life. Free societies grant personal dignity and affirmation, but people must break free from psychological dependence to think and judge freely, or else they may lose their way. Yet, stepping out of dependence and embracing freedom itself is a form of pressure. Rapid social changes, advancements in science and technology, improved living standards, and continuous shifts in economic lifestyles require people to constantly adapt or risk being (ed). Thus, rising life pressures and emotional imbalances pose serious threats to human health. In 1996, the World Health Organization (WHO) published an estimated report on the top ten future diseases of humanity, warning that by the year 2020, the ranking of the top ten diseases would include heart disease as the first and depression as the second. Depression has not yet entered the top ten diseases threatening humanity, so why might it become the second major killer in two decades? Based on my experience in psychological counseling, I believe this possibility is high, as future social changes will accelerate, and the pressures and challenges on people's spiritual lives will rise accordingly. The relentless pursuit of growth, freedom, and openness is an undeniable fact. We now live in a highly informatized society, where in such a system, from production to consumption, you must master information to understand and analyze it; from thinking to decision-making, you must rely on information to process more of it. Just consider that stocks, foreign exchange, and finance alone can be overwhelming, yet you live amidst it. No one can escape the complexities of modern life. A single economic recession can bankrupt a person, and one financial storm may cause you to suffer losses without cause. Living with these changes day by day, amidst struggles and competitions for gains and losses, naturally makes you recognize the high likelihood of the WHO's estimates. In fact, based on practical experience in psychological counseling, the number of people with depressive tendencies is rapidly increasing. Therefore, we must address the spiritual issues in modern life, particularly those related to mental health. Additionally, due to the modern society's obsession with quick results and material gains, moral values are declining. People ignore justice for personal benefit, neglect spiritual life for economic pursuits, leading to issues like crime, violence, and social chaos. While free and open societies are truly valuable, freedom can be misused before habits of self-discipline and attitudes of law-abiding behavior are established, thereby undermining social stability and quality of life. P4-5