HEALTH
Health is wellness of the body, the mind, and the soul; their alignment with one another is the art of living well.
and
TIPS
WISDOM
Wisdom is understanding of the self, others, and the nature of things; it is essential to living as if everything is a miracle.
No Man Is An Island
Wisdom in oneness of all life is wisdom in living. The oneness of all life is one of the basic laws of Nature: that is, we are all inter-connected with one another, just as the famous poet John Donne says: "No man is an island."
This universal moral principle holds the key to true and lasting freedom in living. Without that freedom, we are forever living in human bondage that inhibits the development of the wellness of the body, the mind, and the soul. Without this holistic wellness, there is no wellness wisdom.
Living in this day and age is never easy: we are living in a toxic environment. Every day we are exposed to violence, negativity, discrimination, injustice -- they all impact the subconscious mind, which, unfortunately, controls the conscious mind, giving us the assumptions, presumptions, predictions, and expectations that affect how we think, how we act or react.
Descartes, the famous French philosopher, once said: “We think; therefore, we are.” That means we think, and our thoughts shape who we are and what we have become. Accordingly, if an individual has toxic thoughts, that individual is most likely to have a toxic body with toxic desires, giving rise to a toxic soul, and thus becoming a toxic individual.
Given that all begins in the mind, having the right mindset is critically important. Wisdom in "no man is an island", which is the oneness of all life is the right mindset to live as if everything is a miracle.
Lao Tzu, the ancient sage from China, in his immortal classic Tao Te Ching, has given the essentials of oneness of all life:
“The Way is great because of its three essentials:
compassion, humility, and faith.
With compassion, there is no fear.
With humility, there is no strife.
With faith, there is no impossibility.
Without compassion, fearless becomes ruthlessness.
Without humility, efforts become complicated and difficult.
Without faith, possibilities become controlling and self-centering.
Compassion is the root.
Humility is the stem.
Faith in the flower.”
(Tao Te Ching, Chapter 67)
Contemporary wisdom may provide a blueprint for living, but that may be too inhibiting without giving you true freedom to live the life you want to live.
According to Lao Tzu, compassion is focusing on others instead of on the self. Not focusing on the self leads to humility. With humility, the focus is on the doing, rather than on the result of the doing. In contemporary wisdom, the focus is always on the self, such as self-esteem, and on the doing (the more, the better) -- even to the extent of wishing others fail so that one may succeed in life; compassion, in the contemporary world, is insignificant or irrelevant.
Contemporary wisdom is often the source of toxic thoughts and desires. To illustrate, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s scandal in allegedly playing a role in motivation of traffic debacle is an example of political vendetta, and payback in politics-a norm acceptable to many.
Political vendetta or retribution comes from bitterness, which is a toxic emotion that originates from the ego, which is self-importance or self-image. With the acquisition of the ego, the individual begins to set goals with expectations to maintain and protect that ego created in the mind of that individual. In the process, there will be disappointment, discontent, and dissatisfaction -- the raw materials for creating toxic thoughts. When the ego is threatened, that individual feels nothing but “unfairness” that demands “justice.”
Toxic thoughts devastate the mind, the body, and the soul. The oneness of all life is the only solution to toxic thoughts: no man is an island, and we are all somehow and somewhat connected.
The oneness of all life is essentially loving-kindness and human compassion expressed in Jesus' saying of "Love thy neighbor as thyself" and reiterated by Mahatma Gandhi's non-violence advocacy. Without the realization of the oneness of life, even "killing" the enthusiasm of someone, you are indirectly "harming" that individual because you are in fact taking away the life within that individual. So you can “kill” someone with “words” and “attitudes” and not necessary with weapons. Remember, love and compassion are expressions of the oneness of all life -- a mental attitude that liberates human bondage from self-centeredness.
Stephen Lau
Copyright© by Stephen Lau
Wisdom in oneness of all life is wisdom in living. The oneness of all life is one of the basic laws of Nature: that is, we are all inter-connected with one another, just as the famous poet John Donne says: "No man is an island."
This universal moral principle holds the key to true and lasting freedom in living. Without that freedom, we are forever living in human bondage that inhibits the development of the wellness of the body, the mind, and the soul. Without this holistic wellness, there is no wellness wisdom.
Living in this day and age is never easy: we are living in a toxic environment. Every day we are exposed to violence, negativity, discrimination, injustice -- they all impact the subconscious mind, which, unfortunately, controls the conscious mind, giving us the assumptions, presumptions, predictions, and expectations that affect how we think, how we act or react.
Descartes, the famous French philosopher, once said: “We think; therefore, we are.” That means we think, and our thoughts shape who we are and what we have become. Accordingly, if an individual has toxic thoughts, that individual is most likely to have a toxic body with toxic desires, giving rise to a toxic soul, and thus becoming a toxic individual.
Given that all begins in the mind, having the right mindset is critically important. Wisdom in "no man is an island", which is the oneness of all life is the right mindset to live as if everything is a miracle.
Lao Tzu, the ancient sage from China, in his immortal classic Tao Te Ching, has given the essentials of oneness of all life:
“The Way is great because of its three essentials:
compassion, humility, and faith.
With compassion, there is no fear.
With humility, there is no strife.
With faith, there is no impossibility.
Without compassion, fearless becomes ruthlessness.
Without humility, efforts become complicated and difficult.
Without faith, possibilities become controlling and self-centering.
Compassion is the root.
Humility is the stem.
Faith in the flower.”
(Tao Te Ching, Chapter 67)
Contemporary wisdom may provide a blueprint for living, but that may be too inhibiting without giving you true freedom to live the life you want to live.
According to Lao Tzu, compassion is focusing on others instead of on the self. Not focusing on the self leads to humility. With humility, the focus is on the doing, rather than on the result of the doing. In contemporary wisdom, the focus is always on the self, such as self-esteem, and on the doing (the more, the better) -- even to the extent of wishing others fail so that one may succeed in life; compassion, in the contemporary world, is insignificant or irrelevant.
Contemporary wisdom is often the source of toxic thoughts and desires. To illustrate, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s scandal in allegedly playing a role in motivation of traffic debacle is an example of political vendetta, and payback in politics-a norm acceptable to many.
Political vendetta or retribution comes from bitterness, which is a toxic emotion that originates from the ego, which is self-importance or self-image. With the acquisition of the ego, the individual begins to set goals with expectations to maintain and protect that ego created in the mind of that individual. In the process, there will be disappointment, discontent, and dissatisfaction -- the raw materials for creating toxic thoughts. When the ego is threatened, that individual feels nothing but “unfairness” that demands “justice.”
Toxic thoughts devastate the mind, the body, and the soul. The oneness of all life is the only solution to toxic thoughts: no man is an island, and we are all somehow and somewhat connected.
The oneness of all life is essentially loving-kindness and human compassion expressed in Jesus' saying of "Love thy neighbor as thyself" and reiterated by Mahatma Gandhi's non-violence advocacy. Without the realization of the oneness of life, even "killing" the enthusiasm of someone, you are indirectly "harming" that individual because you are in fact taking away the life within that individual. So you can “kill” someone with “words” and “attitudes” and not necessary with weapons. Remember, love and compassion are expressions of the oneness of all life -- a mental attitude that liberates human bondage from self-centeredness.
Stephen Lau
Copyright© by Stephen Lau
