Chapter 9

A person who is being led by the nose.

69 chapters,

Don't push yourself into a dead end.

Liu Guozong

Putin once said to himself: engaging in kneading the Dao is something I have consciously and voluntarily done in my life; it is not just a sport but also seems to be a philosophy, and it teaches me to treat opponents with respect as well.

I really appreciate Putin's saying, "When facing an opponent, one must hold respect." Since you can become my enemy, he surely knows more about your shortcomings, weaknesses, and inadequacies. Your opponent will use your shortcomings, weaknesses, and inadequacies to surpass you, defeat you, become stronger, and become the award winner on the championship podium. In this regard, the British poet Blake also said to his friend:

I said to my friend: I am angry with you.

The anger then faded away,

I dare not speak of my anger toward my enemy,

Let the resentment take root deep in the heart.

Day and night, trembling with fear,

Watering it with tears to nourish,

Exposing it to the warmth of smiles and feigned affection.

Until the anger grass grows into a big tree,

Bearing fruit pleasing to the eye,

The enemy sees its vivid, dripping fruit,

If one cannot obtain it, it would be a great pity.

With great difficulty, nightfall descends,

This is a good opportunity to steal and pick.

Look! This morning scene truly brings joy to the heart,

The enemy lies flat and secure beneath the tree.

Anyone who can see their enemy lying flat and secure beneath the tree and feel joy has a broad enough heart. In life's journey, everyone inevitably suffers some harm or causes harm to others.

Those who harm you, or whom you harm, may become your enemies or adversaries. In the world, there is no person without enemies or adversaries, unless you are not human (even non-humans have natural foes). How to treat one's enemies is indeed another major lesson in life. The Bible tells Jesus' disciples: "Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you." To love your enemies, to bless those who persecute you, can we do that?

Friend, on your life's path, if you can have someone who understands you, how can you not hold respect for them? In life, for those who often remind you of your weaknesses, how can you not hold respect for them? Such people, besides your relatives, also include your enemies.

Therefore Laozi said: "He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened." Being good at knowing and understanding others is a manifestation of wisdom. Do you understand your enemy? If you originally hated him, from the time you read my work, please love him. Be tolerant, be understanding.

Putin also said: Tolerance toward people is also leaving yourself a retreat; you cannot push things to the extreme, for if you push things to the extreme, it is tantamount to pushing yourself into a dead end. In life's journey, who does not wish for lifelong safety, smooth sailing, who would want to push themselves into a dead end? So you should hold respect in your hands, be a little more tolerant toward others, and leave yourself a way out.

7o chapters

A person who is being led by the nose.

Liu Guozong

Someone says, living is like peeling an onion. What's inside the onion, nobody can say clearly; only by peeling it open can one know.

Out of the desire to know the secret inside the onion, this arouses our curiosity to 'peel'. When one day we have peeled the onion completely, what will you see? The great Indian poet Tagore tells us: "When, at the end of that day, standing before you, you will see my body covered in scars."

"All-over scars", is that the result we want to see?

"All-over ailments", this is a result we each do not originally want to see but end up seeing, yet this is also an inevitable result of life. However, the content of these scars differs: some are wounded for themselves, some for others; some are wounded for their own fame and profit, some for country and people.

Mengzi once said, he wanted both fish and bear's paw, but these two cannot be obtained at the same time. Why? Because one is in deep mountains and forests, the other in rivers, lakes, and seas. A person cannot both go hunting in the mountains and fish in rivers, lakes, and seas; in short, one must give up one. Actually everyone knows Mengzi was using a metaphor. His meaning to be explained later: life is something everyone wants to cherish, truth is something everyone wants to pursue. But truth is a good thing, and all good things in this world must be obtained at a cost. Sometimes even life must be the cost; in the face of life and truth, what have we chosen? If our bodies covered in scars are for 'clothing, food, and drink,' what meaning do these scars have? Could it be that we live merely to see ourselves wounded for clothing, food, and drink, thus bringing upon ourselves these all-over scars?

Recall Hu Shi once said something like this: "Don't be led by the nose by others." Being led by the nose by others, in this way, the 'secret inside the onion' you see are all designed for you by others, and the scenery you see of yourself are all things others have had enough of. Does the 'peeling the onion' that brings you all-over scars exist merely to have others lead you by the nose?

71 chapters,

cold-blooded animal

Liu Guozong

Why does the moon in the sky receive everyone's welcome and praise? Because she offers her greatest beauty to the world; why does the moon in the water suffer neglect from people? Because she hides her beauty beneath the water.

Friend, if you have your own 'greatest beauty', you must absolutely not hide it in the water.

Perhaps you will say: "I still don't know where my 'greatest beauty' lies!" "Your kind actions, your selfless dedication to the world— isn't that your beauty?"

Someone says, beauty is a kind of goodness. Beautiful things must be good; if not good, they are not beautiful. We say the sun is beautiful because it can awaken the power of life; without the sun, the world would become darkness, all life would wither; the sun is beautiful and also good.

Of course, when we say the sun is beautiful, those who like to do evil in darkness will surely say: "The sun is ugly." Because the sunlight the sun brings to the world influences them to engage in shameful deeds. The sun's beauty is not 'small beauty' but 'great beauty.' 'Great beauty' is naturally also 'great goodness.' Laozi said: "Heaven and earth have great beauty but do not speak." Writer Wang Bingjun said: "Facing the great beauty of heaven and earth, we cannot remain silent; if we do not speak, it is loss of speech, numbness, regret, ignoring the existence of beauty, disrespect toward beauty, and thus failing to honor heaven and earth's beautiful intention." When we spend our lives facing the sun, it is the sun that awakens our life, gives us the power of life, gives us warmth and light. If we do not use our own language to praise the sun, and use our hearts to feel gratitude, this is not merely a problem of 'great beauty,' disrespect, and numbness. This is ungratefulness, this is 'cold-blooded animal'.

To feel gratitude toward the world that loves us, it should be said that our life's theme, the process of life, should be a process of gratitude. From the moment we are born, this tiny life has received special care from the world. Among flowers, grasses, trees, springs; heavens, oceans, mountains; beasts, birds, insects, aquatic creatures, livestock, poultry—among all the myriad things of the world, only humans are 'a most remarkable masterpiece! How noble the rationality! How graceful the bearing! How refined the conduct! In behavior, how like an angel! In wisdom, how like a celestial deity! The essence of the universe! The pinnacle of all beings!'

Those who can be the 'essence of the universe, the pinnacle of all beings' often are born in bliss yet unaware of it. Using one's hands to destroy the world that gives us life, using one's mouth to curse and sully one's purity, making the Creator's 'remarkable masterpiece' degenerate into a 'ungrateful, profit‑seeking, life‑taking devil'!

If this person is ungrateful and unaware of repaying kindness, then the conscience is ruined. 'When the root is chaotic and the end not governed, it is not so.' The heart is the root; if the root is chaotic, the person is wholly chaotic; if one replaces the human heart with a beast's heart, the person becomes a beast, or even worse than a beast.

A sociologist says: 'The guilt and weeping of conscience are a pain that can wake you from deep sleep; this pain tells you that in your heart there is a kind of confusion like ** doing the work of maintaining life.'

72 chapters,

I do not know whether it is an angel or a devil, saying to me thus……

Liu Guozong

Just like a small flower encountered by chance on a cliff by someone climbing high, she will bring a surprise, a beauty to those seeking scenery.

Distant friend, perhaps one day when we meet, I too will become a beautiful scenery along your journey.

For this, I am now treading the thorns that people despise, striving toward the peak, I am preparing to display the best of my life on your path.

Come out, my heart! No need to wait for anyone!

Rush out of your sheath, go, my heart!

However, "I have forgotten, I always cannot forget, I have no wings to strive to fly, I am a stranger in a foreign land. Friend, from your breath, I have comprehended an impossible hope. Only my heart can understand your language, just as it understands its own language. Ha, the distant pursuit, ha, the lofty call of your flute! I have forgotten, I always cannot forget, I do not know the way, I also have no winged horse. My feelings are unsettled, I am a wanderer in my own heart. In the weary time's mist, your vast illusion appears in the azure sky! Ha, the farthest end, ha, the lofty call of your flute! I have forgotten, I always cannot forget, in my solitary dwelling, all doors are tightly shut."

73 chapters,

Silence is gold.

Liu Guozong

When the clouds and mist drift over from among the mountain flowers, I only then realize, the mountain path I had just climbed has become speechless. Under the moonlight, I can only read those silent stars in the night sky, and the faint glimmers between the stars.

Those little wanderers, please leave your shining footprints in my longing heart, or turn them into little songs that, on this lonely night, bring me a little joy.

Because I don't believe the saying, 'If you miss the sun and shed tears, then you will also miss the stars.'

Although I have already missed the bright, sunny daytime, wasting many precious moments on boring trifles and social engagements, but I cannot miss the night sky full of stars.

O little silent one, what are you saying?

I am speaking of the silence after the clamor.

The stars in the sky remain silent without a word.

However, I like those silent stars. For in their silence, I further grasp the meaning of 'silence is golden,' and I feel the greatness of the silent ones.

74 pieces,

Love is……

Liu Guozong

Maintain the struggle against fate, that eternal struggle; maintain endurance toward life, that eternal endurance. After the years drift away like fallen flowers, on that desolate path, why does the faint fragrance still remain? Is the reason for all this simply because I still love this world? O world, I have offered you that eternal, unchanging love—what else can I give you?

What is love? How abstract and empty a word! Yet after repeatedly pondering and reflecting, I finally understood the meaning of love: love is not an abstract concept, nor merely an empty word. 'Love is patient, kind; love does not envy, does not boast, is not proud, does not act shamefully, does not seek its own benefit, is not easily angered, keeps no record of wrongs, does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth; it always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.'

75 pieces,

Therefore……

Liu Guozong

More able to withstand several rounds of wind and rain, spring then hurries away. To cherish spring, one often fears the flowers will bloom too early; what more when fallen red petals are countless? Let spring stay, they say, for the fragrant grass at the ends of the earth has no road to return; blaming spring's silence, only diligence remains—spiderwebs on the eaves all day attract flying fluff…… This poet is too sentimental; his imagination is how pure and beautiful: for the love of spring, he actually wishes the early spring flowers would bloom later—truly a bookish fool, for if the flowers do not open, where would the fruit come from?

Although spring is beautiful, is summer not beautiful? Is autumn not a sight of melons and fruits fragrant in the air? Winter's 'idly tapping chess pieces, window flowers falling'—is not that mood of waiting and idle chat also beautiful?

Someone says the world is forever beautiful in the hearts and eyes of those who love life and love living. Beauty does not lie in the things themselves. Sometimes, in the hearts of those who are pained and sorrowful, the flowers of spring are not necessarily beautiful; the great Tang Dynasty poet once wrote the line, 'Sensing the times, flowers shed tears; hating parting, birds startle the heart.' When the great poet, worried for the country and the people, actually flung his tears onto the petals, the blossoms before his eyes could not evoke even a hint of beauty in him; on the contrary, he also splashed his sorrowful tears upon those lovely petals.

Therefore, beauty is not in the things themselves, but in the viewer's mood; I also want to say: 'Beauty is not in the scenery of the four seasons, but in having a beautiful mood within the four seasons. If one wishes for all four seasons of life to be beautiful, then one must maintain a beautiful mood throughout the four seasons.'

77 pieces,

The price of beauty is……

Liu Guozong

Blue mountains, clear waters; green grass, red flowers. When flowers bloom, they display all the beauty of their lives to the world. 'The flower clings to tender red stamens, the willow bends supple green branches.' When people admire the beauty of flowers and savor their fragrance, they forget the wind and rain beneath their roots.

Actually, the beauty of a flower is the result of having endured wind and rain; only those flowers that have endured wind and rain are truly the most beautiful.

Every kind of beauty's price must endure the trials of wind and rain. When we admire the beauty of flowers and savor their fragrance, please do not forget the wind and rain at their roots.

78 pieces,

The more I walk, the less I recognize myself.

Liu Guozong

A poet said, thus, we keep walking forward in the world――

"Walk with the left leg, walk with the right leg"

Walk into a straight line, walk into a curve

Some people just walk and walk far away

Some people still remain in place

walking"

Those who walk far away: some no longer recognize themselves, some have lost themselves, some still wish to retrieve their former selves; those who keep walking in place: some, because they have not walked far away, still feel ashamed of themselves.

79 pieces,

I want to tell you, I don't know if you'll listen?

Liu Guozong

I cannot be like the roadside grass, living in people's inattentive gaze, living under their light trampling. Because I understand:

"Spring from the green grass"

"And tell the youth:"

"My light shines upon you,"

"From the desolate cold environment,"

"Create for you a living personality!"

Yes, I want to create a living personality, letting my thoughts shine with the spring's radiant green leaves; let my spirit sing along with the sunshine.; I want to make life as beautiful as spring flowers, and let my ideals become as sweet as autumn's fruit.

8o pieces,

A beautiful girl said to me: 'To live is to love……'

Liu Guozong

A nun named Telesha wrote a book called *To Live Is Love*, which I enjoy reading. Telesha devoted all her love to the cause of human peace, loving others more than herself. She went into the slums, not to sightsee for fame, nor to visit and console, but to serve them directly. She disregarded danger to her life, unafraid of contracting diseases such as leprosy, AIDS, etc.

Because I have been influenced by Telesha's spirit of great love for humanity, I especially enjoy reading her book *To Live Is Love*. Although there are many Nobel Prize–winning books in the world, I love reading Telesha's *To Live Is Love* that won the Nobel Prize even more. I read Telesha's kind of love that disregards personal safety, fears no difficulty, willingly sacrifices self, money, time, gladly gives, willingly gives—that spirit.

Yes, to live is to love; living requires us to love—love oneself, love others, love the world. The Creator sent us into this world not merely to live for living's sake, not only to live for ourselves, but also to live for others. If we live only for ourselves, we are no different from the birds and beasts around us.

Someone says the sufferings of life are not poverty or wealth, nobility or humility, but whether you have love for others.