沙漠无情 相逢是缘  (Part 1)

沙漠无情 相逢是缘 is actually a phrase from the movie/opera 新龙门客栈, it kind of means the desert is harsh and inhabitable, and it is a metaphor for being heartless and lifeless. Continuing from the previous essay, when the Zen master 玄奘 reached 玉门关 where the 新龙门客栈 was supposedly located, the road branch out into 3 different paths, there was one to the south, one through the middle and one to the north of Xinjiang (新疆). However, the one through the middle and south passed through a long stretch of the Taklamakan desert, while the one in the north which were connected to areas like the present-day Hami (哈密) and Urumqi (乌鲁木齐) only passed through a relatively short stretch of the Gobi Desert (戈壁). 

玄奘 chose the norther passage because there were more inhabitants and civilizations in those areas, and it turned out to be the right choice because that was where he met the ruler of ‘高昌国’ (the present day Hami/Urumqi) who then became his big benefactor.  The ruler, 麹文泰, gave 玄奘 plenty of material and man power support to make the journey a success. Without this support or if 玄奘 had chosen the paths to the south and middle of Xinjiang, he might not have made it through and a large section of Buddhist teachings wouldn’t have reached East Asia.  

The fact that 玄奘 had chosen to go north to a bountiful place instead of the desolate Taklamakan desert made me come to the realization that spiritual cultivation does not have to be a lonesome, isolated and unfeeling (无情) pursuit. It should be one that is inclusive and can live side by side with material things and civilization, as 玄奘 have shown how the material support he received from 高昌国 had greatly benefited him in the pursuit for higher levels of enlightenment. This is very much in line with the 六祖慧能 teaching of, ‘佛法在世间不离世间觉 离世觅菩提恰如求兔角’ mentioned in the essay ‘The Role of Art and Music (Part 2)’.

This idea of inclusivity can also be found in the Confusion adage of ‘君子合而不同’, which means a virtuous person should be at peace with people or beliefs which are different. I first came across the concept of ‘君子合而不同’ from CCTV’s program of ‘龙行天下- 龙泉宝剑藏龙气青瓷聚龙魂 2024/02/13’. The program described the spirit of the Chinese Dragon as akin to the 龙泉宝剑 which is 坚韧锋利 while at the same time it can also be the opposite like 青瓷 which is 内敛温润. Together, they are 刚柔並济 and is the essence of ‘合而不同’.

This embodiment of two opposites has always puzzled many students of Chinese philosophy and especially those who study the entire ensemble of 儒释道. I have written in previous essays on how being 内敛温润 through 温良恭俭让 can improve our wisdom and skills, but how can being 内敛温润(soft) also makes you 坚韧锋利(tough) at the same time? Take for example, how can Cyndi 王心凌, whom I described as having a soft delicate touch (内敛温润) like a craftsman, is also 坚韧锋利 at the same time? If my analysis is correct, toughness (坚) and resilience (韧) are enabled by the positive values of 温良恭俭让, and that is why they are not hard but brittle. 

坚韧 is like a ball which can bounce back when you drop it on to the floor, whereas something that is brittle will crack if subjected to the same impact. The reason the ball can bounce back is because of the air inside, and this is the purpose of the Qi (气). When we are impacted with difficulties, getting angry and frustrated will cut off the circulation of our Qi, but if we have good values like 仁耻礼义爱孝忠, it will ensure that we face or look at (相应) the challenges positively so that our energy circulation can keep going to prevent us from becoming fragile.

Take for example, in the essay ‘新龙门客栈’, we saw how the bad childhood experiences of 王斤斤 had turned her into a somewhat spiteful and insecure adult. The childhood experiences of Cyndi 王 was no worse than that of 王斤斤, but somehow it did not turn Cyndi into a negative person. She revealed in her interview that her father left her family when she was little and her mother had to take up several odd jobs to raise her and her brother. They had little to live on and her mother also occasionally took out her frustration on her. You may think this would give Cyndi a very bitter experience in life, but she did not take things the hard way, she could reconcile her own pain through showing empathy for her mother’s difficulty and disappointment. She regarded the beating and scolding she got from her mother was nothing compared to the hardships her mother had to shoulder. Instead of bearing grudges, Cyndi even helped to discipline her younger brother in order not to create more troubles for her mother.

The soft (温润) values of 温良恭俭让 enabled Cyndi to accept her fate and appreciated how her mother had worked tirelessly to raise her instead of bearing grudges like the brittle 王斤斤. It is these moral values which made Cyndi more inclined to see (相应) the bright side of things and flicked on the positive switch in her mind that let her absorb the punches and bounce back (坚韧) from many difficult situations in her life. If her mind was dominated by hate, jealousy and anger, she would be overwhelmed by the sense of loss and pain, and became bitter. As a matter of fact, many successful people were also raised from broken families and less than ideal social and economic circumstances. They too had gone through many failures in their careers and it is the same positive attitudes (坚韧) which enabled them to bounce back and make things happen eventually. 

The positive ‘相应’ is most commonly expressed as the ‘正能量’ and has the effect of making one see opportunities when others see threats. Let’s take an example which I believe most can relate to; let’s say in a village where there is plenty of vacant lands, a positive person may see the benefits of improving the living standard of himself and others by planting apple trees on these vacant lands. Those who are negative (负能量) are overwhelmed by the thoughts of the hard work involved in planting and maintaining an orchard, or they are too cynical to believe that the village land administrators will be willing to cooperate. The fear of failure and loss totally incapacitated them and they may even rationalize their own inaction by calling those who are willing to work as greedy. In the event the prices of apples actually soften due to the higher supply, negative people may be busy gloating over the other’s misfortune, calling it retribution for being greedy and opportunistic. But a positive person on the other hand may see this threat of over supply as an opportunity for him to mass produce apple juices and snacks in a just-in-time way from the steady supply of apples in the village.

This positive attitude is reflected in many other minute areas in our lives which we don’t even notice. In the vacation-based reality show, ‘与彩云相约’, 汪东城 mentioned that he was once very surprised to see Cyndi drove a super large SUV to work because it was completely out of proportion to Cyndi’s dainty appearance. Many ordinary people hesitated to drive large SUV due to fear factors such as the high maintenance, the difficulty of maneuvering the vehicle on tight busy streets, the hassle of finding parking spaces and maybe the soft resale market for these vehicles. Cyndi on the other hand was less bothered by these considerations probably because she has accurate spatial judgement, saw (相应) the benefits such as the higher load capacity of the SUV, its prestige, comfort and stability at high speed. Certain bad elements (bad karma) subconsciously turn people negative, worrisome and anxious. The pessimism make people see narrow paths and spaces, make people perceive the inconveniences and losses outweigh the gains in many situations in life, while people with good merits tend to experience and perceive less of such obstacles. This could be the reason why some of us scream with joy in roller coaster rides while others scream in fear.

To accept one’s fate like how Cyndi did when she was little may sound like one is weak, passive and easily give up in the face of adversity, but on the contrary, from my own experience, it enabled one to deal with adversity with less fear and resentment. Once there was a road construction going on outside the Buddhist center where I went to pray and recite sutras. The noise was rather disruptive and I complained to my master that I can’t concentrate; my master then told me if things were reasonable and legal, then I should put myself in their positions and try to feel what it was like to do hard labor under the hot sun and show empathy and compassion to those workers by offering them cold drinks. True enough, once I did that, the level of frustration in me subsided and the noise didn’t seem that disturbing anymore because when there is acceptance and compassion, the resistance/blockage is removed and the circulation of energy will continue smoothly to keep me cool and easy. It was like compassion and acceptance had helped my brain to become more coherent and enhanced its ability to filter away noises. Probably, it was the same brain activities that helped Cyndi enhanced her skills in dancing and singing when she was young.

You can think of it this way, most of us may find working 9 hours a day and 5 days a week tough, but if we think of the positive outcomes such as the material and knowledge gain or doing it out of the love for our families, we will somehow manage to find the strength to go on. Many successful people also started their careers doing very mundane jobs like washing dishes, doing laundry or making coffee and they excel in all these mundane jobs. They accepted these jobs without too much resentment and resistance because they see these jobs as means to widen their social contacts, build up good reputation and gain better career opportunities. 

Resentment, on the other hand, will block us from getting motivated by positive factors and make us focus on the low pay and stress instead. The root of resentment is none other than our sinful emotions such as greed which creates unreasonable expectations, anger makes us easily frustrated, hate makes us perceive obstacles, jealousy makes it hard for us to get along with others and pride give rise to arrogance and footloose behaviors. All in all, having good morals don’t make a person soft, in fact, they will make us confident and calm so that we don’t abdicate from our duties out of fear and frustration. They will give us clear minds to make the right decisions and make us focus on solution instead of conflict. Hopefully, the direct link between good morals and our performance and productivity will be clearer one day so that we can engage in ‘良性竞争’ in a modern civilized society.