愉快人間, 人間愉快

Motivational  YouTube video


A few years ago in Taiwan, there was a book published with the title
“愉快人間”. It depicts happy life as being “止於此生所有”, “只盡其在
我”，and ”求諸耳目所感，心神所悟”.

In the recent Taiwan’s 大學學測, “人間愉快” was the 國文作文題目.

It was a great idea that the educator encouraged the students to
thank, recall, live, explore, and appreciate their happy lives.

A happy life is one spent in learning, earning, and yearning.
- Lillian Gish –

陶淵明 and 李白 were among the ancient poets who knew how to live
a happy life.

陶淵明  飲酒詩之五

結廬在人境，而無車馬喧。問君何能爾，心遠地自偏。
采菊東籬下，悠然見南山。山氣日夕佳，飛鳥相與還。

李白   山中問答

問余何意棲碧山，笑而不答心自閒。
桃花流水窅然去，別有天地非人間。

Happy life can be as simple and inexpensive as what 南朝陶弘景 had written:

山中何所有？嶺上多白雲。只可自怡悅，不堪持贈君。

As stated in this inspirational video, pay attention to what is in front
of you, your life is in front of you, it is your life, and enjoy it before it is too late.


Yeh Tze

畫舫齋記 “Pleasure Boat Studio”

Bamboo Flute Music (YouTube video)

A couple of years ago, I happened to come across an English translated
essay by Ronald Egan entitled “Pleasure Boat Studio”,  one of the 75
essays chosen by the editor, Philllip Lopate, in his book " The Art of the
Personal Essay".

It was said that the original essay was written by Ou-Yang Hsiu on the
twelfth day of the twelfth month in the Jen-wu year(January 25, 1043)
(Please also refer to my prior post on Thursday, April 29, 2010)

Thursday, April 29, 2010 "Pleasure Boat Studio”

“Pleasure Boat Studio” by Ou-Yang Hsiu
(Translated by Ronald Egan, Professor in Chinese Literature &
Aesthetics from Harvard University)

"Three months after I came to Hua I converted the rooms of the eastern
wing of the government offices into a place for me to spend my leisure
time. I named it “Pleasure Boat Studio”. The studio is one room across
and seven rooms long (the rooms being connected by doorways), and so
to walk into my studio is just like walking into a boat. First, in a corner
of the warm room I made a hole in the roof to let in light. Then on either
side of the bright and open unwalled rooms I made a hole in the roof to
let in light. Then on either side of the bright and open unwalled rooms I
installed railings to sit on or lean against. Anyone who relaxes in my
studio will find that it is just like relaxing on a boat. The craggy stone
mounds and the flowering plants and trees that I arranged just beyond
the eaves on both sides make it seem all the more that one is drifting
down the middle of a river, with the mountains on the right facing forests
on the left, all very attractive. This, then, is why I named my studio after
a boat. ..................................................................................................... ."

Since I did not know the essay title in Chinese, I was unable to find its
original Chinese text.

The other day, while visiting PWL, one of my NTUMC classmates,
in Houston Texas, I was thrilled to finally find it in one of his collected
Chinese books. It was an essay (or a prose) with the title "畫舫齋記"
which I found in the 歐陽修全集. 


畫舫齋記 《歐陽修集·卷三十九》

予至滑之三月，即其署東偏之室，治為燕私之居，而名曰畫舫齋。齋廣
一室，其深七室，以戶相通，凡入予室者，如入乎舟中。 其溫室之奧，
則穴其上以為明；其虛室之疏以達，則檻欄其兩旁以為坐立之倚。 凡偃
休於吾 齋者，又如偃休乎舟中。山石崷率，佳花美木之植列於兩簷之外，
又似泛乎中流，而左山右林之相映，皆可愛者。 因以舟名焉。.............. 。


 


I was extremely amazed by my classmate’s rich collection of Chinese
literature books, particularly those ancient classical Chinese 古藉古書,
such as 周易, 詩經, 戰國策, 史記, 漢書, 三國志, 資治通鑑..................... .

I was even surprised to see the book "姜太公全集", as I had only known
the popular saying (or 典故): “姜太公釣魚, 離水三寸,  願者上鉤”.

There are bookshelves practically in every room and he must have
collected thousands of books in Chinese. He is really the one whom we
would call “學富五車”. I made a comment jokingly about him by saying
that, besides "坐擁書城, 與書為伍", he actually "睡臥書海" as well, as I
noticed his bed was also surrounded by bookshelves with all kinds of books.


Yeh Tze

A Better Place

In the memorial service, L, a classmate of mine from NTUMC, shared his memorable sweet story about his 42 years' togetherness with his beloved wife H.

He also mentioned that H, who was a devoted Christian, had comforted him by saying that she would be in a better place. Out of his deep grief, L knows that she is now in deed with the Lord in a better place.

H was a classmate and the roommate of my wife in the college for the first two years before H changed her major to Philosophy at NTU. They remained to be close friends after that. They were again roommates when they both found their jobs in Taipei after graduation. 

Together they rented a small room in a house near the NTU campus. In that room, there were a single bed, a desk and a book shelve on each side. H was the girlfriend of L and my wife was my girlfriend then, and therefore I tried to visit my girlfriend only when I knew that H was not there.

H was an extremely neat person. I had noticed that H always kept her side in the room neat, organized and in order, while my girlfriend's side seemed to be rather casual, or what I considered to be a little "messy", the way I think was probably the reason she married me.

They shared their thoughts and their life stories. My girlfriend considered H to be her big sister, who often provided her with wise and beneficial advices, which sometimes could be "philosophical" , noting the fact that H's  college major was Philosophy. She was also a very sweet and considerate girl. She often got a nice excuse saying that she needed to leave us because she had a "prior arranged appointment", or a need to do something then, when I visited my girlfriend in their room and she happened to be there as well.

Both of us got married in 1971,  and came to the US in the early summer of 1972. Before we left Taiwan for the US, L's wife and mine together attended a Chinese cooking class so that they could make "decent" Chinese dishes in the US for their husbands.

H is the youngest sister of my another NTUMC classmate P. Now, like what Paul Harvey used to say:

" Now, ..... You Know The Rest Of The Story!" .

Yeh Tze

Quiet Mind

YouTube meditation video

冷靜觀世事, 忙中去偷閒.
靜中見真境, 淡中識本然.

- 菜根譚 -

It is the time to settle down our mind, refocus and start planning for
the New Year.

The book “Quiet Mind” is more than a meditation book. The author
offers readers guidance on using the moments between activities,
which he calls "stillpoints", as opportunities to focus on becoming
more fully awake to who they are.

“Quiet Mind” is an invitation to rest, refresh, find peace, awaken,
remember, and reveal.

A classmate of mine recently spent a week of “quiet mind” with his
spouse during the holiday season in a Buddhist Temple, where he
found the “real” him, or who he is.


Yeh Tze