Life's Hard Journey—Exploring the Mysteries of Self-Immolation by Famous Figures from China and the World

Author: Li Dongshan (Compiler)
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-01-01
Features: Rewarding to read. After finishing Dongshan's The Hard Journey of Life, I felt a bit heavier, but more importantly, it inspired my thinking—or rather, this thinking is my interpretation of the text The Hard Journey of Life. Life and death are relative to each other; without life, there is no death, and vice versa. Similarly, beginning and ending are always in opposition; without beginning, there is no end, and without end, there is no beginning. Therefore, people often say that one should not start without finishing, but should strive to do both well. The same applies to life and death. Although people avoid and fear death, even saying that "a bad death is better than a slow death," the saying "Since ancient times, who has not died?" holds true. Since one is born, one must inevitably die. Thus, the correct attitude is not to fear death but to face it with composure, just as one faces life with composure. In this sense, establishing a correct "view of death" is as important as establishing a correct "view of life." Only then can life and death both be treated as "joyous events," albeit with different emotional tones. In folk terms, they are called "red and white events" because both represent the victory of dialectics. Only in this way can one love life without fearing death, cherish life without fearing death, and ensure that life has both a good beginning and a good ending—what is called a good start and a good finish. The death described and explored in The Hard Journey of Life is merely one form of death—suicide—and only a group or class within suicide—celebrity elites committing suicide. What is suicide? émile Durkheim, author of Suicide, defines it as "any death directly or indirectly caused by an act, positive or negative, committed by the deceased with full knowledge that it would result in death." For a long time, Chinese culture has had a tradition of valuing life and avoiding death, and has held a negative attitude toward suicide. Later, this negativity was elevated to a political level, making it even more taboo to speak of suicide. If a relative or friend commits suicide, it is considered extremely shameful and is often concealed. In reality, this is a misunderstanding of suicide. Throughout history, both famous and wise individuals have died by suicide. Qu Yuan drowned himself, and Tian Hua jumped into the sea—these were deaths for a greater cause, tragic and heroic. Even cultural and artistic elites like Lao She and Shangguan Yunzhu took their own lives out of resentment and resistance to the "Cultural Revolution," embodying the spirit of "a scholar may be killed but not humiliated." Of course, among suicide victims, there are indeed those who, tormented by deep guilt or remorse for their mistakes or even crimes, ultimately took their own lives to atone. Even in this case, one should understand their inner realization and admire their courage and determination to atone with death. However, those who have accumulated immense evil, committed countless crimes, and are unforgivable, who ultimately take their own lives to escape punishment, are a different matter. said, "The power to end one's own life is one of our many innate abilities," and Montesquieu even questioned, "Why don't others let me end my suffering when I am oppressed by pain, poverty, and contempt? Why do they cruelly deprive me of the remedy in my hands? Heaven has given me life, which is a blessing; but when life is no longer a blessing, I can return it, for if the root is absent, the fruit should also be abandoned." Citing these words does not mean glorifying or praising suicide but aims to show that there are such perspectives, ways of thinking, and viewpoints regarding suicide. Moreover, the paths to suicide vary greatly: some die for justice, some for benevolence, some for integrity; some die for honor, some for disgrace, some for hardship; some die for themselves, some for others, some for material possessions; some die for their bodies, some for their minds, some for emotions. These terms—justice, benevolence, integrity, honor, disgrace, hardship, self, others, material possessions, body, mind, and emotion—are only rough descriptions, possible speculations. In summary, regarding suicide, a social phenomenon that accompanies humanity and whose rate increases with the development of civilization, it is unwise to hastily condemn or praise it. Why do people commit suicide? Numerous studies show that both objective social reasons and subjective psychological reasons cannot be ignored. The famous medieval physician Ibn Sina once conducted an experiment. He tied two rams together in the same place and gave them the same food, but allowed one ram to constantly see a wolf lurking nearby, causing the ram to live in constant fear and anxiety, with its nerves always in a state of high tension. Soon after, this ram died, while the other ram, which did not see the wolf, lived well. The death of an animal is not the same as the death of a human, and the death of the ram near the wolf is different from suicide, but this experiment is highly meaningful for exploring the relationship between life, death, and the environment. Clearly, it is the presence and surveillance of the wolf that caused the ram's nerves to become highly tense, and it is precisely this high tension that directly led to the ram's rapid death. The wolf lurking nearby is the ram's direct living environment—a fearful and harsh living environment. It is precisely this terrible and harsh living environment that led to the terrifying state of the ram's life. The harshness caused the ram's nerves to become highly tense, ultimately leading to its death. Here, both the harsh objective environment and the subjective mental tension are causes of the ram's death; they are the result of the combined action of objective and subjective factors, and it is inappropriate to emphasize only one aspect. However, for different individuals, the importance and role of objective and subjective reasons may differ; in fact, more often, subjective psychological reasons are more important and direct. Because not everyone chooses to end their life by suicide when facing the same objective environment. Here, individual psychological differences directly lead to different choices. In summary, when faced with such a significant choice between life and death, someone chooses to give up life and embrace death for definite reasons; these reasons are undoubtedly complex, and the process of their formation is long. It is not appropriate to make simple and abstract inferences about them. Given the vastness of the world and the complexity of its affairs, the fact that you and I have the fortune to be born as humans is truly a blessing. Moreover, life is finite—even if one lives to be a hundred years old, it is merely a fleeting and insignificant moment in the infinite natural society; and it is a one-time event, with no afterlife. Therefore, cherishing life is the essence and instinct of life, as well as the responsibility of continuing humanity infinitely. Although "the power to end one's own life is one of our many innate abilities," from the fundamental meaning of life, no one has the right to abuse this ability. Although every person who commits suicide has sufficient reasons for doing so, and believes that only death can free them from their troubles, when we consider the infinite sorrow, unbearable pain, and irreparable loss they leave behind for their families, others, and posterity, the act of abandoning life and escaping suffering reveals a certain indifference to the lives of others, and inflicts unbearable and irreparable wounds on their lives. Cherishing life means creating a good and relaxed living environment for it. On a grand scale, the prosperity, peace, and progress of society are the favorable macro-environment for life. This depends not only on the efforts of every member of society but also, more importantly, on the perfection of social systems and the wisdom of the ruling authorities. Families, units, relatives, colleagues, and friends are the direct environments that life faces at all times. A little more communication, understanding, tolerance, care, kindness to others, and harmony and warmth are things that each of us can do and are things we all long for. We all have a responsibility to create a suitable living environment and realistic climate for life to grow. Cherishing life also means creating a good mental state for oneself. Practice has shown that self-enclosure, hypersensitivity, suspicion, depression, and are psychological factors that cannot be ignored in leading to suicide. Open-minded people are cheerful, tolerant people are broad-minded, benevolent people love others, and benevolent people live long. It is essential to cultivate a good mental state, adjust abnormal mental states in a timely manner, and care for mental health as much as physical health. Only then can one have the courage to face the storms of the external world and the strength to absorb and endure the hardships of life's journey, truly remaining fearless in danger and calm in change, resolving everything with ease. Su Dongpo once said, "It is difficult to understand human nature; the depths of the sea cannot compare to its depth, the dangers of the mountains cannot match its peril, and floating clouds cannot match its changes." Although with the continuous development of human practice, our understanding of the world beyond ourselves and our understanding of ourselves have deepened, this will ultimately be an infinite process without an ultimate answer or final mystery. Because once humanity exhausts its understanding of itself, perhaps it will exhaust itself. In this sense, Dongshan's The Hard Journey of Life is only a limited exploration in the infinite deepening of human understanding of itself, but Dongshan's ability to quietly read a large number of books, gather extensive materials, and contemplate such profound questions, writing tens of thousands of words, is truly admirable. Dongshan's home is filled with over ten thousand books, and buying, reading, and writing books are his greatest joys. "Read books that benefit the body and mind often, and avoid doing things that benefit the family and the country." Dongshan is diligent in his thoughts and actions, and I sincerely wish that the diligent will achieve and remain healthy. October 2002, on the banks of Yuehu Mountain.