How I discovered my Confucian Soul

I learned about mindfulness meditation (Vipassana) in the mid-90s. I find it tremendously helpful not only for one’s spiritual life but also for everyday life and practical purposes. One primary benefit of the mindfulness practice is that it enables us to understand ourselves better.

We can probably all agree that self-knowledge is very important. But there are many ways to improve one’s self-understanding. Meditation is not the only way. Besides meditation, psychologists also recommend journaling, reading, traveling, introspection, learning about cognitive biases, and many other methods. We should not think that mindfulness or meditation is the only way.

Lately, I have been re-reading Lin Yutang’s book, My Country and My People. The book delves deeply into Chinese culture and the Chinese way of thinking. It has rekindled my interest in my own cultural heritage and it gives me some deep insights into my soul. Since my teenage years, I have always been a serious student and a very socially-concerned and politically-aware person. I published my first article when I was seventeen in a widely-circulated magazine in Hong Kong called The Seventies. It was about various problems with the modern medical system. I wrote it after reading Ivan Illich’s book, Medical Nemesis. I have also been a lone wolf and not a party-going type. There is a WhatsApp group established…