The Secret of the Five Blessings | Ancient Chinese Wisdom

So you see the Five Blessings. There is one thing that connects all five. What is it? I'll give you two seconds. Think about it. Five Blessings They are called: 壽 富 康寧 攸好德 考終命 (Shòu Fù Kāng Níng Yōu Hào Dé Kǎo Zhōng Mìng) It's a complex idea. I'm going to explain the basic meaning of it, and also explain the characters. So this session is condensed. There is one thing that connects all five. Yes, you are smart. That is 壽 (Shòu). You have your originally given lifespan, at least 80, 100, or even 120 years of life. If you live through it, that is 壽 (Shòu). That is a blessing. But you must have a peaceful mind and good health. That will ensure you have this. If you don't have this, you won't have this. You may even live shorter than that. And if you live under very bad conditions, in extreme poverty, you don't have health, you don't have a peaceful mind, you won't have this. See? They are all connected with this. 寧 (Níng) focuses more on your heart. Your heart is settled down. Your heart is not always jumping around, running here and there. No. Your heart has a place to rest. There is a story in Buddhism. One monk wanted to learn from a high-level monk. He wanted to become his disciple. The master asked him, "Why do you want to learn from me?" He said, "I cannot calm my heart down." The old monk said, "Show me your heart. I will place it down and make it peaceful for you." But then he said, "You must first find your heart." If you are not 安, if your heart is not 寧, you are always wondering, looking outside, you cannot truly quiet down to look inside. To observe your every single thought, your every single mind, the process of your every single thought, the process of your thinking. If you cannot observe that, and you cannot find your heart, then you won't have this, and you won't have this either. It looks like fate cannot be changed. That's what happened in ancient Greek tragedy, always talking about belief and fate, the effort, the endeavor of a human being, always fighting with fate, and you cannot defeat fate, like Oedipus Rex and Antigone, ancient Greek tragedy. But now I want to open up your mind a little bit with this character, Dao. Three ways of Dao here, and you are the person who must obey. That's one direction. Remember, upper is Yang and lower is Yin. Pangu was born and separated 天 and 地, heaven and earth, right? So there is always the other direction you have to obey. But can you change, at this lower level? Yes, you can. Based on the criteria and requirements, obey first, then you do something to change your fate. In traditional Chinese philosophy, or even traditional Chinese medicine, if you do good things, you can change your fate. You can live long enough with a healthy body, a peaceful mind, a wealthy status, with all good habits, and good virtue to yourself and to everybody, to yourself and to everybody, and end life with peace. So if you go that way, in the connotation of traditional Chinese philosophy, or the view of the universe, or the view of life, or the view of human history, there is nothing to be overjoyed, there is nothing to be sad. That is called peace. Yin and Yang balance. OK, that's the Five Blessings. I wish you all a New Year and the year to come to have these Five Blessings. 壽 富 康寧 攸好德 考終命 (Shòu Fù Kāng Níng Yōu Hào Dé Kǎo Zhōng Mìng) for this life