Finding Inner Peace in Life

According to the news report on 11^th April, 2024¹ , the Education Bureau of Hong Kong pointed out that 32 reports of student suicide cases from primary school and secondary schools were received in the last year, which is the highest among the recent five years. This report on the staggering number of suicide cases among primary and secondary school students stirred my emotions. Apart from encouraging parents, teachers and teenagers to treasure their lives, I would like to extend my condolence with this article on explaining ways for finding inner peace in life reflected in the two sentences in Annotation to divinatory symbols of the skies (aka Qian wenyan 乾文言), “One knows the utmost point to be reached, and reaches it” (知至至之) and “One knows the end to be rested in, and rests in it” (知終終之).

Life is ever the self-sustaining little cosmos. We could adopt the metaphor of circle to describe this little cosmos where no rupture is found. Therefore, the circle has the implication of embrace and harmony. Sometimes we ask ourselves, “Is the little cosmos in life collapsing? Is the wholesome cosmos being replaced by broken walls and ridges?”

A full circle signifies Chinese culture; therefore, Chinese people love circles. The ancient symbol of fishes of yin and yang (陰陽魚, which is also called the Tai-chi diagram 太極圖) was a circular symbol that denoted changes within the cosmos. It is a coincidence that astrologists also mentioned that every star in the cosmos, regardless of size, is doing the same thing – moving in a circular path.

Broken walls and ridges is a metaphor of problematic worldview of life. Our value system, which is single-dimensioned, leads one to the cul-de-sac.

When one is injected with values that we need to dive in endless pursuit of capital and consumptions, one is forced to fulfill some forms of social expectations. If our efforts are hindered or our achievements fall short of social expectations, we will lose our direction and become confused. Therefore, this epoch is represented by negative qualities such as stress, depression, anxiety, and worries. Our mind could not be settled to appreciate nor value the worldview based on dimension of life (生命的維度) as it is buried under our pursuit for fame and capitals.                                                                                                                                                                                

There are four components of worldview based on dimension of life: morality, emotionality, potentiality, and creativity. These are the bases of life and the anchorages that one could find peace in life. Without these, one’s life would collapse.

As Confucius said in Chapter of Shu Er in the Analects, “As the search (for riches) may not be successful, I will follow what I love." How thorough and pure is Confucius’ understanding to life! Isn’t it the fullness expression of the perfect cosmos of life that we yearn for long? Yes, we could pursue wealth and fame, but more importantly, even this might be difficult, we could still choose to follow what we love. Therefore, the complete and fulfilled cosmos of life comprises the dynamics of moving forward and backward, taking and giving up, being active and conservative, times of lacking and times of abundance. However, if we ignore the value of worldview based on dimension of life, half of our life is ruined – oh, life! How come should we choose such a one-way ticket in our choice of life value?

“He knows the utmost point to be reached, and reaches it, thus showing himself in accord with the first springs (of things); he knows the end to be rested in, and rests in it, thus preserving his righteousness in accordance with that end.”²

Therefore, finding peace in life means that one’s life could freely and rightly choose when to move forward, when to move backward, when to take something, when to give up something, when to be active, and when to be conservative. 

Chinese believe that two polarities in life are not necessarily be in opposition or even antagonistic. Transformation of the opposites creates the opportunity for one to self-actualize and understand the essence of humanity.

Finding peace in life means that when our lives face difficulties, one could still find happiness oneself, fulfilling one’s aspirations. Thus, one is rich in mentality. In this way, one is adopting the worldview based on dimension of life to judge the utmost point to be reached and the end to rest in. The final outcome is status of joy and happiness in life.

Confucianism emphasizes missions in life. “He knows the utmost point to be reached, and reaches it, thus showing himself in accord with the first spring (of things)” describes the natural tendency towards virtues in terms of devotion in life and self-actualization. Human beings are inherited with potentialities from the nature; therefore, we have the responsibilities to express the colour of life in the canvas of our own lifetime. Afterall, life is a miracle of the creator, yet life is also a creator of miracles. There is no restriction on the ways one fulfills one’s potentiality, one could use various means to create things from void, from confusion to direction, eventually blossoms with various characters.

Nonetheless, life is always the mastermind underneath creation. Let us look into how philosopher Kong Yingda (孔穎達, 574-648) explained what Ji is (幾, first springs of things). He said, “this is the moment when one gets out of the void and comes to being, when there are some directions not consolidated yet (去無入有，有理而未形之時).” His focus was the creative process when our life energy leaves “void” and evolves into “being”. This illustration could be regarded as the most tasteful and precise one.

Zhong (終), the end, means the moment that one should relax and stop moving forward. In the course of life there are always obstacles and hardships. When this happens, one should choose to let go. Knowing the end (Zhi Zhong知終), one could find the path that represents one’s value in life.

The term Cun Yi (存義) in the quote “he knows the end to rest in, and rests in it, thus preserving his righteousness in accordance with that end”, apart from translated as righteousness (Yi), could be understood as “the right way”, which is the status of relaxation and harmony. Therefore, Annotation to divinatory symbols of the skies says, “Rejoicing (in opportunity), he carries his principles into action; sorrowing (for want of opportunity), he keeps with them in retirement.” (樂則行之，憂則違之).

Nonetheless, the timing of action and retirement should be judged in terms of morality. Afterall, the emotions of rejoice and sorrow in such case are rooted from one’s moral decisions. Mencius also contributed to the discussion on how to find peace in life. As Mencius mentioned in Chapter I of Jin Xin (盡心上), he described the process of finding peace in our life and determine our life goals (安身立命) as follows, “Neither a premature death nor long life causes a man any double-mindedness, but he waits in the cultivation of his personal character for whatever issue (夭壽不貳，修身以俟之).” What Mencius call for safeguarding wholeheartedly is exactly the value of the worldview based on dimension of life.

The trend of Globalization and Capitalism in terms of economic development is irreversible. The social discourse of what success means transmits through the expectation from parents, family members, friends and teachers onto the shoulders of teenagers. We should learn how to embrace and respect teenagers’ potentiality and their ambitions. Also, we should compromise on a single-sided value system so that one could keep harmony in one’s mental state.

Confucianism emphasizes “One knows the utmost point to be reached, and reaches it” (知至至之) and “One knows the end to be rested in, and rests in it” (知終終之). In this way, Confucianism values creativity in life, at the same time encourage finding one’s well-being in terms of happiness and self-containment.

Apart from the active and striving attitude towards life, Confucianism also emphasizes capacity of resilience and hardiness towards hardships in life. Keeping the right way (Cun Yi, 存義) should remain the core theme of one’s life as it is the key to finding one’s peace in life. Wisdom and the self-containing cosmos of life could only be achieved through discovering and treasuring one’s value of life, realizing joy and sorrow through the lens of morality, as well as understanding the meaning of health.

In this way, Chinese philosophy is also the philosophy of life. Ancient Chinese hailed not only the greatness of live but also the miracle of creation. We should know that the key to such greatness and miracles lies in the subjectivity of life – the human beings.

The Great Treatise of I-Ching (繫辭) mentioned, “That which ensues as the result (of their movement) is goodness; that which shows it in its completeness is the natures (of men and things) (繼之者善也，成之者性也).” The meaning of life lies in realizing, striving, and fulfilling the true values of life. This famous adage did not set limits on us. Afterall, life is deep and profound as it is always full of possibilities in being creative and innovative.

Reference

Footnotes

1. Education Bureau received 32 report of student suicide cases from primary school and secondary schools in the last year, which is the highest among the recent five years. (教育局去年接獲32宗中小學生懷疑自殺身亡個案是過去5年最多) (2024, April 11). RTHK News, https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/ch/component/k2/1748510-20240411.htm

2. Translated by James Legge, 1899. Original quote of these are, “知至至之，可與幾也；知終終之，可與存義也”.