The world is one’s own, and has nothing to do with others….
“Reflections at One Hundred” – by Yang Jiang
I am one hundred years old this year, and I have reached the edge of life. I cannot be sure how much further I can go; lifespan is beyond our control, but I am very clear that I am about to “go home.”
I must cleanse the impurities accumulated over this hundred years before returning home. I do not feel like I’ve “climbed Mount Tai and looked down on the world,” but rather live a peaceful life in my small universe.
Upon reflecting on this, my heart is as calm as water; I should peacefully welcome each day and prepare to go home. In this world filled with material desires, life can indeed be quite bitter.
If you intend to be an honest person who does not compete with others, people will take advantage of you and bully you. If you have any talent or virtue, people will envy you and exclude you. If you are magnanimous and yield, people will infringe upon you and harm you.
If you do not wish to compete with others, then you must seek nothing from the world while also maintaining your strength in preparation for struggle. To coexist peacefully with others, one must first engage with them while being ready to suffer losses at any time.
In youth, one indulges in play; in young adulthood, one is infatuated with love; in middle age, one strives for fame and family; in old age, one finds comfort in self-deception. How long can a person’s life last? How much refined gold can stubborn iron become?
However, different degrees of training will yield different levels of achievement; different degrees of indulgence will accumulate varying levels of vice. Heaven does not allow all happiness to concentrate on any single person;
obtaining love does not necessarily mean possessing wealth; having wealth does not guarantee happiness; gaining happiness does not ensure health; possessing health does not mean everything will go as desired. Maintaining a mindset of contentment is the best way to refine the mind and purify the spirit.
All enjoyment of happiness belongs to the spirit; this kind of joy transforms endurance into enjoyment—it is the victory of spirit over matter—that is life’s philosophy.
A person who undergoes different levels of training gains varying degrees of cultivation and benefits. It’s like spices: the more they are crushed and ground finely, the more intense their fragrance becomes.
We once yearned so much for the waves of fate only to discover in the end: the most exquisite scenery in life lies within a calm and composed heart… We once longed for external validation,
only to realize at last: the world is one’s own, and has nothing to do with others.