The Philosophy of Life
Understanding the Potential of Humankind
Tai Ji Men is an ancient menpai (similar to school) of Qigong martial arts and the philosophy of yin and yang. This philosophy has been passed down from generation to generation for over five thousand years. Tai Ji Men has inherited and preserved thousands of years of ancestral wisdom with the goal of promoting physical, mental and spiritual health, advocating messages of love and peace and striving for world peace and the betterment of all people. As the Zhang-men-ren (similar to leader) of Tai Ji Men, I have been given the responsibility of preserving and perpetuating this ancient wisdom. I also hold the positions of Honorary Vice Chairman and advisory committee member for the Association of World Citizens and am also the president of the Federation of World Peace and Love. Today I would like to share with you a speech entitled “The Philosophy of Life--Understanding the Potential of Humankind.”
Life is a gift from God, as such nobody has the right to deprive another of his life. Being human beings, we should make the most of our lives, continuously endeavoring to improve ourselves in order to make significant contributions to society, our country and the world. A human being’s heart is profound and complex, in it we carry a greater potential than any creature on earth. This potential is also a gift from God. It requires diligence and ceaseless effort to develop this potential, however if we simply live out our lives without attempting to develop our fullest potential, we have wasted our lives. Michelangelo, Beethoven, Edison, Lao Tze and Confucius dedicated their lives to developing their potential. Just living our lives is not enough, we mush look for a higher lever understanding. No one knows how much human potential will be developed, how we understand and treat the enlightenment. Exploring both the known and unknown in the perpetual effort of developing our full potential is the way how humankind understanding the philosophy of life.
It is something to with one’s heart and self-cultivation. Because our lives are short, we must seek perfection by our judgement in every action so as to not waste our lives repeating ourselves unnecessarily. If we understand how exceptional our existence on earth is, we gain a glimpse of how vast our potential is. The quest of reaching our full potential begins in our hearts. Our hearts will guide us along the path if we are willing to purify our hearts and thoughts. A pure heart is a good heart, free of anger, evil intentions, insincerity and belligerence. As our heart becomes more and more pure, we can come to understand the meaning and purpose of life. This way, we learn the philosophy of yin and yang, and return to a state of natural balance as dictated. This is the path to repair our hearts so that it may show us the way to cultivate ourselves.
By practicing positive thinking, we can be reminded to change ourselves through the good things and models. This way, we life will be changed. If each day we wake up happy and handle everything with a smile then our lives will become better. Our minds will become clearer and we will not be controlled by bad moods. A pure mind fosters a pure body and good health ensues. This is the first step of making use of our potential.
When our heart is clean and pure, we will be able to receive more and more good messages. Life is marvelous, and it has endless resources. The purer we become the more of our potential and conscience we unlock. This makes us stronger and wiser, allowing us to see the true nature of things more clearly. In other words, our abilities will increase ten to hundreds of fold and extend to areas we currently cannot imagine. The greatest figures in history were most likely unaware of the impact their contributions would have on the world, however given the full potential of human kind, it becomes obvious that we are capable of so much more. In the East, we believe that “cultivation is to change oneself by doing. We can only learn, change and understand by doing.” It takes tremendous effort to make a happy life, but what truly matters is how we utilize our potential in life. I believe that everyone knows the benefits cultivating our potential brings, such as health, wealth, wisdom, joyfulness and happiness.
Being born as a human is a blessing. We should understand the function of our potential in life. Unless we strive towards reaching our full potential, we are wasting the opportunity that we were given in life. We cannot decide how or when we are born into this world, however we can substantiate our life by understanding, improving and exploring ourselves in order to realize our life potential. Many sages have spent their entire lives working towards this goal.
Not many people can fully devote themselves to reaching their highest potential, however since ancient times; a few people have blessed the world with their desire to make the best use of their life potential. This is the yin and yang philosophy of life. Except for the time spent eating and sleeping, he contributes the rest of his time to the world. I hope that every one of us can cultivate ourselves and let our goodness spread throughout the world so that our social mores will improve and the world can become more harmonious, secure and safe.