Chapter 12-3 Education that Respects Human Nature

Humans are actually quite similar to all things in nature; they need to grow freely. Just like trees thriving upwards, and fierce beasts galloping across the wilderness. Once growth is restricted, like plants in a greenhouse or animals in cages, it deals a fatal blow to their nature. The inevitable result is the extinguishing of their natural inclinations, their life's energy stagnates instead of ascending, and they cannot live with the feeling they should have of being "alive".

If you are a student reading this book, you are likely striving every day to improve your academic performance, yet often feel anxious about not meeting the expectations of your teachers and parents. I want to tell you: Don't worry, child. Everyone has their own strengths, and your life's mission may not lie in this. Please see studying as a process of growth, not as a task. True wisdom comes from understanding, not from merely acquiring knowledge, memorizing textbooks, or practicing test questions. In China's history, the imperial examination system lasted for 1300 years. Many renowned figures like Du Fu, Wu Cheng'en, Jin Shengtan...faced repeated failures. Pu Songling even spent from age 21 to 60 striving for success, but the word "failure" always loomed over him. Did exams define their remarkable lives? The path of life is not limited to exams and being a "good student". Having a free and resilient spirit, reading, asking questions, thinking critically, learning to interact with others, and experiencing relaxation without overwhelming pressure will help you gather strength, overcome obstacles, and shoulder responsibilities in the next phase of your life. One day, you too will soar, like a dragon rising to the heavens.

If you are a parent reading this book, you might be worried about your child's ranking in class, constantly trying to help them progress faster through various tutoring classes. I want to say: Don't be too demanding. Success in life does not necessarily correlate absolutely with academic achievements. Your most important task is to accompany your child's growth and provide them with the space to grow freely. Honestly ask yourself, after entering the workforce, have you ever used the solid geometry, calculus, or chemical balancing learned in high school? Meanwhile, in work and daily life, do you frequently use the literacy and arithmetic skills acquired in elementary school? In other words, what you learned in high school has long been returned to your teachers; your current level is merely that of elementary education, which in no way prevents you from establishing a family and career and seeking a place in society.

If you happen to be someone who loves learning, then you and I are kindred spirits, and I humbly have a slight say in this matter. Your early aptitude in this area has shown, and soon you will reveal your shortcomings in other areas. Therefore, focus on your strengths and don't let material distractions divert your attention. Our society needs not only money and commerce but also culture, technology, and intellectual depth, each contributing to human progress in their respective fields. You have a responsibility in this regard. Be a lifelong learner, a practitioner who uses your inventions or discoveries to change the world, share wisdom, and help more people. Don't disappoint the abilities bestowed upon you by the heavens and the mission entrusted to you.

Education serves three primary functions: the preservation of human civilization, the cultivation of talent for national development, and the pursuit of individual happiness. These three aspects are deeply interconnected with education. Education should awaken a child's awareness, thereby preserving civilization, providing talent for the country, and helping individuals achieve happiness. This is what education should be. Education is not about endless competition or simply focusing on grades; it's about restoring everything to its natural state—allowing flowers to bloom as flowers, trees to flourish as trees, and children to grow as children, returning everything to its original state.

Education especially fears labeling people. Existence arises from non-existence, length from shortness, superiority from inferiority,  difficulty starts from ease, and height begins from low. From ignorance comes understanding, and from inability comes ability. Lack gives rise to abundance, and within abundance, there still remains a lack, signifying that while you've mastered one thing, there are still areas left to learn. Every person, regardless of their origins, is born with and will carry various imperfections throughout life. Perfection is impossible. Where there is gain, there is loss. The more dazzling and glorious something appears, the more it will, sooner or later, demand equal hardship and sacrifice.

Have you noticed that many of today's children seem to possess a higher-dimensional consciousness? There are countless videos of "little prodigies" circulating on various websites. Some people attribute this to excellent parenting, while others think it's staged or just for show. At an age when rote memorization is expected, these children exhibit profound understanding of things and can articulate themselves naturally and fluently—this innate comprehension and ability to self-express cannot be taught. Aside from attributing it to "past-life memories", it's completely inexplicable.

Regardless of whether your child demonstrates prodigious qualities, what should wise parents do? Please don't underestimate or look down upon your children, nor treat them as incapable beings with no understanding of the world. Teacher Liu Feng suggests that we should appreciate and recognize our children from a higher-dimensional perspective: "Many children are born with innate high-dimensional wisdom, but as modern formatted parents and teachers, we are like cutting a well-rooted mountain ginseng with a knife, turning it into a worthless carrot."

In fact, our early education should learn to better nurture and awaken children's innate high-dimensional wisdom, encouraging their natural endowments. In this regard, Western approaches to educating minors far exceed the Chinese "cramming" method. Respect each child, help them learn the rules of the game in the spacetime of Earth, and teach them how to navigate tools in this space—EQ, IQ, FQ, and so on. As children grow, they become complete individuals living in the modern world, capable of connecting with their inner wisdom. This connection will equip them with immense strength for a full and meaningful life journey.

As discussed in Chapter 7 of this book, children are more naturally inclined to access higher-dimensional information than adults. The highest achievements in music, painting, calligraphy, poetry, and other forms of art are fundamentally a result of connecting with higher dimensions, not simply through diligent practice or routine effort. True talent manifests in the ability to learn quickly, grasp concepts with ease, and achieve mastery without formal instruction.

Just as composer Johannes Brahms once said: "Suddenly, melodies flowed toward me from God, and so, while immersed in a state of inspiration, I recorded the already completed piece note by note without altering a thing." The musical prodigy Mozart has been called "God's copyist", composing effortlessly from the age of four, with his musical manuscripts showing no signs of corrections or erasures. It was as if he wasn't composing but transcribing a work that already existed. Mozart created symphonies at the age of 7. While most composers write horizontally, completing one instrument before moving to the next, but Mozart could imagine different instruments playing together and wrote notes vertically to indicate different instruments playing simultaneously, akin to a scanner, more like "copying" than "creating".

Calligraphy, painting, musical performance, and other arts connect artists to high-dimensional inspiration in the moment of creation, resonating in harmony with it, producing unparalleled high-dimensional energy that can traverse the void. This is why many paintings can stir emotions deeply, some music sounds like celestial harmonies, and seemingly strange "mantras" can have certain effects...

Many people, upon hearing Buddhist scriptures, are often moved to tears. The Bible, the I Ching, and various Buddhist scriptures can all be considered, to some extent, as "Heavenly Books". In Buddhist terminology, the word "scripture" (jing,经) means "shortcut". Any book that can be called a "scripture" is either completed under the guidance of higher dimensions or recorded by those who are in a state of connection with higher realms.

Every scripture can be interpreted in countless ways; for instance, the I Ching and the Tao Te Ching can be used to interpret nature, the body, economics, and human nature. Only by perceiving and sensing with sincerity can one penetrate beyond the superficial meaning of the text, resonate with the scripture, and comprehend its deeper essence.

 

If the theory of "reincarnation with immortal soul" holds true, then most people have inherent talents and memories from previous lives to some extent. Parents need to diligently identify and stimulate their children's potential abilities. This requires observing and guiding them during companionship and creating a free and relaxed environment for their growth, respecting their preferences and choices.

My elder son, Coco, possesses some innate talents. He started learning the electronic keyboard at the age of 4, and I accompanied him during his lessons. However, after just a few classes, I found myself completely lost, while he demonstrated an extraordinary ability to identify musical notes. During ear training exercises, he never made a mistake. Music has always been his passion, and we never imposed strict practice hours on him. When he was 9, he passed the Grade 10 piano exam, and out of interest, he also mastered several other instruments,  enjoying mixing them to create unique musical experiences. Besides music, he has a keen interest in astronomy and geography, demonstrating exceptional spatial orientation, visual acuity, and memory. When we stargaze together, he can identify the names, magnitudes, and positions of stars throughout different seasons. In second year of primary school, he also developed an interest in programming. His ability to grasp and apply computer languages quickly surpassed what I could achieve, even with my years of rigorous study as a Ph.D. student.

My niece, Xiao-fei, is a beautiful girl with slender limbs, appearing ideal for dance training. Consequently, her parents enrolled her in dance lessons at a young age. However, the little girl was unhappy with dance and, after passing Grade 8 at the age of 9, firmly refused to continue dancing. Fortunately, her parents stopped insisting. Yet, Xiao-fei has a talent for painting that became evident after the age of 6. She effortlessly learns techniques like sketching, line drawing, watercolor, Chinese painting, and calligraphy. Holding a photo or sketch, she can bring animals to life with incredible realism. Some of her imaginative artworks have even won national awards.

These two personal cases illustrate that from the perspective of respecting innate talent: children aren't "taught" into who they become.

Another one of my nieces, who is in her third year of middle school, is about to face the high school entrance exam. She has been "the apple of her parents' eye" since childhood, growing up in favorable conditions with high expectations from her parents. They hired the best teachers tutoring for her. One day, I heard her father mention that she scored 138 out of 150 on a mock English exam, which he considered "quite poor" compared to others who scored closer to the perfect 150... It sounded like humility, but I felt deeply for this child.

Why? Because everything is created by the heart. The standards you set for yourself and your child can deprive you of freedom and happiness!

In life, the joy you experience is often strongly related to the "standards" you set for yourself. Everyone has experienced exams and knows how difficult it is to achieve a perfect score of 150 in a two-hour exam. If you set 150 as the standard, both the child and you will always be in anxiety. Even if one day you achieve this score, the child will be anxious about not keeping this score. If you set the standard at 140, then 138 is already close to this standard, and both the family and the child can celebrate with joy. If you set 135 as the standard, the family will surely celebrate and cheer for their children. The child would gain confidence and feel joyful about the rewards for their efforts.

In fact, isn't the adult world just the same? 99% of life's worries are self-created, stemming from setting unrealistic standards for ourselves. While things objectively exist in front of people, different experiences arise due to subjective standards. In this light, the same thing can appear entirely different in the eyes of different people.

On a Mother's Day weekend, I took my aunt to visit my sister. My sister brought out two dried flower fans that Xiao-fei and her brother had made for Mother's Day. At first glance, I could see the difference between the two fans. Xiao-fei, with talent in drawing and painting, utilized the flat surface of the circular fan. She carefully selected colors and paired them with feathers, flowers and plants to create a piece of art. Her brother, less interested in drawing, used leftover scraps regardless of color or size, and also completed his own creation. I showed both fans to my aunt and asked her to guess which one belonged to each sibling.

My aunt glanced at them and pointed to the one with the random arrangement, saying to the boy: "I actually prefer this one because it has layers and feels more three-dimensional, like a small world you can step into and experience..." I looked at the boy, seeing arrogance in his eyes, and then at my elderly aunt, feeling deep admiration. No wonder she was such a blessed person! Later that evening at dinner, she said to me: "I really think the boy's artwork is very good; it shows his creativity." I was deeply moved. My aunt wasn't being insincere or merely trying to encourage the child; she spoke from her heart. This perfectly illustrates the saying "beauty is in the eye of the beholder"—The world is objective, but our perceptions differ based on our inner state and the standards we set for ourselves.

This principle is much like choosing clothes that suit us based on our own aesthetic preferences. What looks good on someone else may not necessarily suit our own temperament. Strangely, though, we readily accept using our own standards to choose clothes that fit us, yet in other aspects of life, such as career choices, love and marriage, and parenting, we often use others' standards, obscuring our own vision and losing touch with our true selves.