A poem for Life reflection on New Year's Eve

 《庐山烟雨》--- 苏轼临终之前写下的最后一首诗:

庐山烟雨浙江潮，未到千般恨不消。

到得还来别无事，庐山烟雨浙江潮。

"Lu Mountain Mist and Rain" — The last poem written by Su Shi (Su Dongpo) before his death:

Lu Mountain's mist and rain, Zhejiang's tide,

Countless regrets remain unfulfilled if I did not go there.

But when I reach there, there seems to be nothing much to bring back.

There remain, Lu Mountain's mist and rain, Zhejiang's tide.

The good life that we so desire, when we don't have them, we strive to get them. But once we had it, it was just nothing much.

So, the things we so desire now, can we look at with a long-term perspective?

3 years, 5 years, 10 years from now, will we so value it?

Are they truly the important things when we look at them at the end of our lives?

What are the legacies that we want to leave behind?

A complementary poem (quoting the last paragraph):

《青玉案·元夕》--- 是宋代词人辛弃疾 ：

众里寻他千百度。

蓦然回首，那人却在，灯火阑珊处。

"Green Jade Table · Lantern Festival - New Year 15th Day Night" — by the Song Dynasty poet Xin Qiji: 

Search for him/her among the people for thousands of times.

Suddenly, when I turned my head, and she was there in the midst of flickering & deeming lights. Maybe the things or people that we need most are not so far away, but rather, just in our midst, in the flickering lights, that we need to pay more attention to seek them out. Are we neglecting the things and people so near us that we pay no attention to them?

May we reflect on our lives when we decide on our New Year resolutions for 2024

Lim Liat (c) 30 Dec 2023

See also Have a Good Start - Making New Year Resolutions for 2024

Confucius' Tien 天 and God

To know the meaning of Tian/Heaven of Confucius, we need to study his words. From the Analects, we can find many quotes that Confucius mentioned Tian, below are a few of them….

1 子曰：「不然，獲罪於天，無所禱也。」

Confucius said, “No so. He that sins against Tian/Heaven, there is nothing to pray for.”

So we can see that Tian is something that you can sin against and Tian will judge and punish the violators. Tian has moral standards for right or wrong and Tian will judge and punish.

2 夫子矢之曰：「予所否者，天厭之！天厭之！」

Confucius said with conviction,” If I have done anything wrong, let Tian hate me. Let Tian hate me!”

This shows Confucius is calling upon the righteous Judge Tian to vindicate him.

3 子畏于匡。曰：“文王既没，文不在兹乎？天之将丧斯文也，后死者不得与于斯文也；天之未丧斯文也，匡人其如予何？”

Confucius was trapped in a place called 匡。 He said, “After King Wen died. Was not I the one who propagates the cultural heritage ?” If Tian wanted to terminate the cultural heritage, then I would not have such cultural heritage. Hence, I know Tian does not want to terminate the heritage, and so what can the people do to me?”

So we can see Confucius believes in the Purpose of Tian for his life. The purpose of the will of heaven for each and everyone is a key concept of Confucius's teaching.

子曰：吾十有五而志于学，三十而立，四十而不惑，五十而知天命，六十而耳顺，七十而从心所欲不踰矩。

When 15, I aspire to learn, and by 30 I can be independent and successful, by 40 I am not confused by choices opened, by 50 I know Tian's will, and by 60 I can understand others' hearts from what they say. At 70, I can follow my heart and violate not any rule (i.e. the rules are internalized and acted out naturally)

4 子曰：「不怨天，不尤人；下學而上達。知我者其天乎！」

Confucius said, “Don’t blame Tian, and Don’t blame people. Learn humbly and achieve understanding and success. The one that knows me well is only Tian!”

5 论语-陽貨子曰：「天何言哉？四時行焉，百物生焉，天何言哉？」

陽貨: 子曰：「予欲無言。」子貢曰：「子如不言，則小子何述焉？」子曰：「天何言哉？四時行焉，百物生焉，天何言哉？」

孔子說：「我想不說話。」子貢說：「您如果不說話，誰教我們呢？」孔子說：「天說過什麽？天不說話，照樣四季運行，百物生長，天說過什麽？」

Confucius said, “Does Tian speak? The seasons come and go, all things live and grow, does Tian speak?”

So, what do you think Tian is?

I must say the closest English word and concept for Tian is God.

And Confucius’ God has the following attributes:

A God that judges and punishes.

A God that has a moral standard of right and wrong. Sin is a violation of His laws.

A God that has a calling, or a purpose for everyone’s life. ie. everyone was created with a purpose in life.

A God that understands the people.

A God that reveals Himself through the creation. The nature of God can be seen in the nature that He created.

So we know Confucius’ Tian is very close to the God of the Bible - A Creator with a heart for the people whom He created. He gave them purpose and care for them. He gave them a moral standard for living and living well with one another. It is then not surprising that the teachings of Confucius, of Lao Zi, and the Root source I-Ching are actually very Biblical！

A Word of Wisdom for this Digital AI-Assisted World

A word for your life and for this present digital world of exponential change?

ZaoBao 10 words for 2023 are：

诈、战、难、智、热、丑、百、冲、洗、裂——这10个汉字从不同侧面反映了2023年的特征，哪一个最能代表这一年？

These 10 Chinese characters are: 诈 (deceit), 战 (war), 难 (difficulty), 智 (wisdom), 热 (heat), 丑 (ugly), 百 (hundred), 冲 (rush), 洗 (wash), 裂 (split). They reflect various aspects of the characteristics of the year 2023.

For me, the word that will last the time, especially as we go forth in this exponential world, will be 忙 - busyness, hurrying, just do - no time to think!

The Chinese word for hurrying and busyness is 忙。 It is made up of heart and death. Hurrying is the death of the heart to think and take charge. My teacher in secondary school gave me a word of wisdom - 忙吗？ 那就要慢。 When you are very busy, then you need to slow down. 慢 - slow; is made up of heart and 曼 which means long and beautiful. Slowing down is to stretch the time and keep things beautiful.

Pause and enjoy the beauty of nature, people's relationships, food, etc. When we are at rest, then we can think and reflect, and then we can find the resolution to all the busyness that we are caught in.

知止而后有定，定而后能静，静而后能安，安而后能虑，虑而后能得 ---《礼记·大学》

"Recognize the endpoint(destination, vision), and then there will be stability( don't run here and there and pursue this or that). Attain stability, and then there can be tranquility. Achieve tranquility, and then there can be peace. Attain peace, and then there can be contemplation (figure out how to achieve the vision). Contemplate, and then there can be accomplishment. ( follow your plan to achieve the visions"

Lim Liat (c) 11-12-2023