Introductory Book Note

Master often reminds us to look at the positive side of matters. Recently, I read a book called 'A Great Revolution in the Brain World'. In the book, it is stated that when our thoughts are optimistic and positive, the body secretes a substance called endorphin which puts one into a good mood. They feel this prevents aging and raises the body's natural healing powers. On the contrary, when one is angry or under great stress, the brain secretes a substance called noradrenaline which possesses a poisonous property similar to snake venom causing much damages to the body.

Therefore, if every thought is positive, the good hormone secreted by the brain makes the person feel comfortable. Not only is one more willing to work, the subconscious mind is also activated giving us power beyond one's imagination. But if one is anxious and tense, the body secretes a chemical making us unable to fully utilize our abilities. This is known as the 'inverse rule of anxious effor'.

So we can see good reason why Master wants us to think positively all the time. Not only is it good for our body and mind, it also makes working smoother. If we think negatively all the time, then we will be anxious in our work. Not only is it damaging to our health, it also hinders our work. This also supports the idea that "When we do things naturally, the result will be perfect."

Most substances secreted by the body are counteracted by another substance. These processes act just like yin and yang against each other to maintain a state of equilibrium. But when we are using our higher brain to work hard for society and humankind, the body secretes endorphins continuously with no counteracting substance. Therefore, the more we help others, the more happy and healthy we are and our subconscious abilities become more developed. Therefore, Master often says that to help others is actually to help ourselves -- to give carries more merits than to receive.

Actually, what Master says is very scientific, it's only that the current level of technology is not advanced enough to provide complete proof.

There is another interesting point. We all know that human beings have different levels of needs. Dr. Marslow, the author, divided these needs into five levels: physiological, security, love and belonging, esteem and self-fulfillment. He discovered that whenever one of the needs is satisfied, the body secretes a kind of endorphin, and the higher the level of need that's satisfied (e.g. self-fulfillment), the stronger are the effects of the endorphin. Research has shown that the more honest and righteous one's life, for example like thinking about the community all the time, one would become healthier.

Many people know about the existence of brain waves. Different brain waves are produced under different conditions. The wave is closely related to endorphins. When there are more waves, there is a greater secretion of endorphins. The author discovered that the wave is most frequent during meditation. It also occurs during positive thinking. In modern society, since we cannot meditate twenty-four hours a day, we can try to be more positive, think about good things, listen to good things, speak about good things, and be more helpful to other people. Then, naturally we will become healthier in body and mind, and everything will become smoother and we will progress faster in our spiritual practice.¡¹

You have read The Little Prince, haven't you? (Audience answers: "Yes.") That book is very good, noble, elegant and pure. It doesn't force anything upon people, yet it makes a lot of sense. For example, on the little planet that the little prince lived on, there grew a kind of tree. The little prince said that if he didn't pull it out as soon as he saw such a tree, it would over-take his planet, and then it would be too late to get rid of the tree. For his little planet, such a tree was too big.

What does the little tree represent? It represents our intransigent, preconceived concepts inside us. If we let our distracting thoughts grow, it would be difficult for us to control them. They would bear "offspring," wouldn't they?

The little prince also said that there were three volcanoes on his planet. One of them was inactive, so he covered it with a cup. (Master laughs) However, he had to check on it every day, because he said, "We don't know if this volcano is really inactive." It's true! Sometimes we think that we've eliminated our greed, anger or infatuation, but we don't know whether it has truly been eliminated or not. So we must cautiously keep an eye on it.

This story also applies to spiritual practitioners. It means that if we don't really work hard on our spiritual practice, our greed, anger and infatuation will return and grow again at anytime.¡¹