2024.12.30 - What to Learn from Young Mao Zedong

Title: 2024.12.30 – What Young Mao Zedong Can Teach Us

Selected Readings:

The masses are the creators of history

What is “practice”? https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/OT8ly4LSS1g4RvXBJE9t8g
When we can merge with our surroundings, everything becomes a source of support—that’s “leveraging the situation.” The term qi and blood (vital energy) does not refer only to what’s inside our bodies; it also denotes the degree of integration with the environment and the resources we can draw upon. When we are sufficiently relaxed, the environment continuously supplies us with qi and blood. The atmosphere, the furnishings, even other people’s emotions can be transformed into our own vital energy, nourishing body and mind. Thus, when someone feels they lack qi and blood, it is because their heart is closed, confined to the interior, and neglects communication with the outside world.

“Fu Xing Jue” Organ‑Based Medicinal Methods & Mastery of Yin‑Yang Deficiency/Excess Formulas https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/JzVFLXAlZjo4-TcwhLxVNg
The work Fu Xing Jue has been hidden in the Dunhuang caves for over a thousand years, surviving intact through countless dynastic changes. In the 13‑lesson series of Jingyi Academy, Teacher Lin Dadong begins with Fu Xing Jue to explain the organ‑based approaches to herbal prescription.

Student Journal | I Change, the World Changes https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/b1N-QzblsvDiNUuTMykepQ
“Where there is a failure in action, look inward.” We have heard this phrase countless times, yet when different teachers utter it in different contexts, it collides with each person’s unique life experience, sparking fresh insights. This piece is compiled from the first major lecture at Sanhe Academy, where students reflected on “looking inward.” Reading their stories and reflections may inspire you as well.

Mr. Feng Xuecheng: Nurturing “Ignorance” with a Joyful Mind https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/Sfrqy0cd68Ijp3BjN5oI3A
Cultivation is a slow process, like cooking over a low flame. If a child needed three oxen, five thousand jin of rice, and ten thousand jin of vegetables to become an adult, and we tried to give all that at once, could the child instantly become an adult? No. Food must be eaten bite by bite, a road walked step by step, knowledge built piece by piece. In Zen, to develop sudden enlightenment and joy, one must nurture it slowly; haste will not bring the bloom and fruit that eventually appear.

What Can Young People Learn from Mao Zedong? https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/KPS0Aj1qBOYR6nL8U2L1oA https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/Cw0NxrulzJrfDQxwitbf8A
From a humble peasant boy in Shaoshan, Hunan, to a historic great leader, Mao Zedong accomplished many monumental and difficult feats. Why was he repeatedly able to turn crises into opportunities at critical moments of China’s revolution and construction? Where did his wisdom, will, and talent originate? By closely studying the methodology of young Mao’s conduct, we can trace the “living water” that later enabled his successes. Much of the essence of his thought and character can be traced back to his youth. So, what practices did young Mao consciously cultivate? What can we learn from them?

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Originally written by Ping Xia (平侠) and published in Chinese on 拾一集 (Weekly Reflections). Translated and adapted for DriftSeas with permission.