Monthly’s Inspiration    【Look Back and Think】

by Grand Master Hsing Yun

In life, we have half the world in front of us and the other half behind us.  Most people can only see what is in front and not behind them.  Therefore, they fight with others every day in the front half of the world until they are tired, battered, and bleeding.  In reality, if we look back and think, our vistas will be much broader and our world more open.  “Look back and think” embodies this philosophy of life as explained below. 

1. It is better to be slow than glib in arguing.  The greatest cultivation in life is not fighting with others.  Some people like to argue and debate.  They always want to get the upper hand and win an argument.  In reality, the truth is not gained in being loud or applying intellectual manipulation.  If something is unreasonable, it does not matter how articulate people are in arguing, because the truth will not be on their side.  On the other hand, those who are slow in speech tend not to fight with others, and people will find them understanding and reasonable.  Therefore, being slow in speech actually makes it easier to express our reasoning.

2. It is better to be reticent than talkative.  As the saying goes, “Talking too much is not as good as doing a lot.”  Talking too much often means we speak when we should not or say the wrong things.  There are people who like to talk, and while others say a few words, they tend to speak ten or twenty times as much.  They may even carry on for twenty minutes nonstop.  The truth is we make mistakes when we say too much.  Being talkative not only earns the dislike of others, but also results in resentment.  The ancients treasured their words like gold.  The sayings “Silence is golden,” and “There is no danger as serious as talking too much” are certainly words of wisdom.

3. It is better to wait for an opportunity than to move rashly.  Humble Table, Wise Fare states, “No deluded thinking in the mind, no inappropriate action of the body, and no improper speech from the mouth.  The wise gain integrity this way.”  Some people like to show off and stand out in a group.  They often cannot wait for the proper conditions to be in place, and instead start to act ahead of time.  As a result, they only find themselves failing in their efforts.  It is like singing, for if we are one beat ahead, we may go out of tune.  Therefore, we should wait for the right opportunity and conditions, and not act rashly when the timing is off.  Otherwise, we will find ourselves just missing success and, as a result, wasting all our previous efforts.  This means we should never move rashly, but act only when a good reason presents itself.

4. It is better to be organized than chaotic.  “With planning there will be no chaos; with job division there will be no rush.”  Some people are unorganized in their work and get busy for no good reason; some follow others in a mad rush.  Worse still, the more some people try and help, the busier things get.  We should, however, be clear in our thinking and skillful at work and the way we conduct ourselves.  No matter how many things we are handling or how busy and chaotic the situation is, we should be organized.  Order can be found within the chaos of anything we do.  We must never run around blindly, accomplishing little in spite of our efforts.  In this way we lose the opportunity to learn from our work.

“Look back and think” is reverse psychology.  It allows us to transcend our original frame of mind and expand our world.