The Best Cultivation is Self-Rectification

“Yang Jiang once said: ‘Although individuals are small and life is short, humans can learn, cultivate themselves, and self-improve. The value of humanity lies within itself.’ The insignificance of humans lies in their ordinariness, yet greatness also arises from the ordinary. Because of their humble pursuit of learning, self-cultivation, and self-improvement, individuals continuously move towards self-repair through their ordinary actions, ultimately achieving self-perfection. By rectifying their deficiencies, weaknesses, and flaws, they enrich their spirits, broaden their horizons, and expand their perspectives, thus opening up new vistas in life.

Rectifying Emotions

In the book of Zhuangzi, it is said: ‘People should learn from still water, for only stillness can subdue many things.’ Once emotions become as unpredictable as flowing water, tumultuous and hard to calm, they easily breed disputes and entrapments. Only by maintaining stable and serene emotions can one proceed calmly, like still water. In the African savannah, there is a group of horses that, for some unknown reason, suddenly become exceptionally irritable at certain times, charging about wildly until they exhaust themselves and perish. After investigation, researchers discovered that there were vicious blood-sucking bats in the savannah. Once they latched onto the wild horses, they clung on tightly and voraciously sucked blood. No matter how hard the horses struggled, they couldn’t shake off the bats, leading to the horses losing control of their emotions and running about in a frenzy, ultimately resulting in their demise. This is known as the “wild horse effect.” Indeed, we can observe various manifestations of the wild horse effect in human behavior. For example, some people tend to make a big fuss over trivial matters, even when they are not at fault, choosing to harm themselves. There are always people who, like the bats in the grassland, engage in all sorts of malicious deeds, specializing in deceit and wrongdoing. Additionally, some individuals enjoy taking advantage of others and causing trouble, persistently clinging and causing trouble. Such people are encountered everywhere in life. However, when faced with their troublesome and malicious behavior, do we also engage with them? Clearly, confronting these individuals will only lead to deeper entanglement and increasingly volatile and painful emotions. Conversely, truly wise individuals consider engaging with such people a waste of time, diminishing their own stature. It is better to calmly distance oneself, quietly move away from them, allowing them to become disheartened, and then part ways. Faced with unpleasant people and situations, we need the wisdom to promptly avoid them, to ignore, disengage, and not be concerned. Timely rectification of emotions allows one to lead a peaceful and composed life. Dickens said: ‘A healthy emotional state is more powerful than a hundred kinds of wisdom.’ The power of emotions lies in the use of positive and correct emotions, illuminating life and guiding it onto the right path. Indeed, life is unpredictable and constantly changing, easily stirring up one’s emotions. However, a person with genuine positive energy can withstand life’s trials and tribulations, enduring various pressures and challenges. The writer Havelock Ellis said: ‘Among all unfavorable influences in the world, excessive emotions often lead to failure.’ Maintaining emotions at a moderate level, avoiding excessive emotions, and minimizing unfavorable influences as much as possible enables one to possess the ability to rectify emotions at any time, thus taking control of one’s life and mastering one’s own destiny.

Rectifying Attitude

If a person’s emotions are sufficiently calm and stable, their attitude will gradually become stronger. In fact, emotions can nourish one’s attitude and also rectify it. Rectifying one’s attitude is significant in enabling oneself to live a happy, fulfilling, and beautiful life that one deserves. As Mr. Kazuo Inamori once said, life isn’t as terrible as it seems; a change in one’s attitude can transform one’s surroundings. This is indeed true, as life is a process, and ultimately, everyone is simply living out their attitude. However, attitudes are ever-changing, influenced by different ages, environments, relationships, and moods. Nonetheless, regardless of external changes, a person who maintains a stable attitude can generate immense wisdom and strength. Ultimately, one will genuinely discover that one’s life reflects one’s attitude. Just as Gorky said: ‘I believe that if you sigh with a cheerful heart, sorrow will dissipate.’ As the saying goes, a broad mind dispels worry. A balanced attitude reduces troubles. With a well-adjusted attitude, things will flow smoothly. Everything can be controlled through one’s attitude, signifying that everything quietly moves towards the good and the smooth. In this way, with a broad mind, illnesses retreat, and life is filled with sunshine. The world is filled with countless troubles, and the complexities of the human heart are hard to discern, but a person can try to calmly analyze and reflect on themselves. Ultimately, by continuously understanding one’s personality and character, and then learning to rectify one’s attitude, one can unleash the power of their attitude.

Rectifying Life

Life lies in continuous rectification and elevation. Indeed, in the course of one’s life, one will encounter unpleasant people and situations, and will undoubtedly feel that life is particularly difficult and perplexing. However, as long as one holds onto hope, continuously rectifies oneself, and does not fixate on external mistakes, one can guard their inner self, cultivate their character, and gradually move forward on the right path. In this way, by introspecting, deepening one’s roots, and self-healing, one can ultimately achieve their goals and create their own future. The ‘Glass King’ Cao Dewang once said: ‘Every minute of every day in life, every single thing you do, is like laying a brick for the grand edifice of history. If a certain brick is used improperly, if you do something wrong when the building is very high, the higher you go, the colder it gets, and under great pressure, that particular area won’t stand up to scrutiny, and the entire building will collapse.’ A good life always requires continuous self-correction and self-repair, while maintaining stable emotions and a strong attitude, continuously awakening and elevating oneself. In this way, by exploring within, cultivating virtue, introspecting, and changing oneself, one can achieve their own success.”