Growth Rules - Life Experiences That Young People Should Not Miss

Author: Luo Yu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-09-01
Features: Dear friend, have you already packed your bags? Are you eager to explore yourself? Don’t hurry. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Let’s first check our backpacks to see if we are well-prepared and confident enough to explore and face ourselves.
First, adjust your mindset and emotions, keeping your state as calm as possible. In simple terms: start this journey with an ordinary heart. Don’t treat self-exploration as a curiosity hunt, nor define self-analysis as self-criticism. Understanding oneself is a journey of exploring the mysteries of the self. The process may be arduous and long, and the things you encounter may far exceed your expectations. If you lack sufficient psychological preparation, you might be overly delighted by unexpected discoveries or overly discouraged by sudden setbacks. You might swing between these two emotional states, feeling lost and longing for stability, hoping to walk through this journey steadily.
Given this, why not maintain an ordinary heart? An ordinary heart is a state of tranquility and ease, unswayed by external joys or sorrows, like Tao Yuanming’s line, “Picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence, I leisurely gaze upon the southern mountain.” An ordinary heart is a demeanor of composure and calmness, unflappable even when faced with adversity, like Zhuge Liang’s empty fort strategy—wearing a crane-feather cloak and silk headband, sitting calmly on the city tower, burning incense and playing the lute to repel the enemy with wisdom. An ordinary heart is a spirit of neither pride nor impatience, neither frustration nor discouragement.
Approaching oneself with an ordinary heart can help clear away the dust of worldly desires, making your eyes clearer and purer. Examining oneself with an ordinary heart can also help you break free from the narrowness of conventions, enabling you to view yourself dynamically and comprehensively. An ordinary heart is like a tranquilizer, granting us the courage to face our flaws and the humility to appreciate our strengths. It is precisely because of an ordinary heart that we come closer to our true selves; it is also because of this heart that we can see both our virtues and our shortcomings.
Therefore, friends, balance your mindset and start this self-exploration with an ordinary heart.
There is a story: The grass in a Zen temple courtyard turned yellow and bare. A young monk said, “It looks so bad! Master, please scatter some grass seeds quickly.” The master bought a large bag of seeds and asked the monks to plant them. Suddenly, the wind blew, scattering the seeds. The monks shouted in alarm, but the master said, “Be natural. Most of the seeds are hollow, so they won’t sprout even if they fall.”
After planting the seeds, birds came to eat them. The monks rushed to chase the birds, but the birds flew up and down. The master, flipping through a scripture, said, “Be content. We prepared more seeds than needed.”
In the middle of the night, thunder and rain began to fall. The monks rushed into the meditation hall, saying, “Master, it’s terrible! All the seeds have been washed away!”
“Be at ease. Wherever they land, they will sprout,” the master replied, meditating without even raising his eyelids.
After more than two weeks, the once bare grassland was lush with green, and even the corners of the courtyard that hadn’t been planted had sprouted. The monks cheered and clapped their hands in joy. The master stood in front of the meditation hall and nodded, saying, “Be joyful.”
The story is over. Do you understand why the master remained so calm? With an ordinary heart, one can sometimes do better. The same applies to self-exploration. Only with an ordinary heart can you truly understand yourself and communicate intimately with your true self.
P7-P8